Association Between Different Inflammatory Markers and Generalized Abdominal Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Science
• Clinical Research
• Public Health

Background:

• Obesity is closely linked to inflammation, but associations with novel inflammatory markers are under-explored.
• Understanding these links is crucial for managing obesity-related health issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between key inflammatory markers and different obesity types.
• Specifically examined neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), C-reactive protein (CRP), and C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR) in relation to generalized and abdominal obesity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015-2018).
• Employed multivariate regression analysis to assess associations between inflammatory markers and obesity.
• Used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC) to evaluate marker discriminative capacity.

Main Results:

• Generalized obesity showed positive associations with increased NLR (35%), SII (52%), CRP (941%), and CAR (925%).
• CRP and CAR demonstrated significant discriminative ability for generalized and abdominal obesity, respectively (AUCs of 0.690 and 0.889).

Conclusions:

• Confirmed associations between obesity and inflammatory biomarkers (NLR, SII, CRP, CAR).
• Identified CRP as the most sensitive marker for generalized obesity and CAR for abdominal obesity.
• Suggests potential utility of these inflammatory markers in obesity assessment and management strategies.