Association between sarcopenic obesity with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome

There is a debate as to whether sarcopenic obesity leads to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) in young adults.

To determine the association between sarcopenic obesity with MS and insulin resistance (IR).

A 5-year retrospective cross-sectional study. Subjects of the specialty consultation between 18 and 55 years old, with BMI≥35 with comorbidity or BMI≥40 with and without comorbidity were included. The association was calculated using an odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Two hundred and fifty-four subjects were analyzed, 76.4% were women and average age was 38.36±8.78 years. The OR of IR in subjects with or without sarcopenic obesity was 2.224 (95% CI, 1127 to 4389, P=.02). The OR of MS in subjects with or without sarcopenia was 1.045 (95% CI, 0.624 to 1.748, P=.868). A difference was found between the fat mass in the group with IR vs. without IR of 60.58±14.4kg vs. 53.98±12.2kg (P<.001); likewise, between the BMI and muscle mass of 46.15±6.78kg/m² vs. 43.51±6.11kg/m² (P<.05) and 30.05±7.48kg vs. 27.86±5.91kg (P<.05) respectively.

The association between sarcopenic obesity with IR in young adults was significant, but not with MS. Our findings emphasize the need to become aware of the importance of maintaining lean mass in obese subjects.