Visceral Adiposity Index May Be a Surrogate Marker for the Assessment of the Effects of Obesity on Arterial Stiffness

Abstract

The relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear. This study aims to describe the relationship between arterial stiffness and obesity in order to investigate the effects of obesity on CVD. We collected data from 5,158 individuals over 40 years of age from a cross-sectional study in Nanjing, China. Anthropometric, demographic, hemodynamic measurements and arterial stiffness measured through brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were obtained. Subjects were grouped by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and visceral adiposity index (VAI), a sex-specific index based on BMI, WC, triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The multivariate regression analysis revealed a negative but weak effect of BMI (β = −0.047, P0.05), it was still obtained between baPWV and VAI quartile (P0.05). However, baPWV significantly increased across groups with higher VAI categories even in the same metabolic category (P<0.01). This study supports the concept of heterogeneity of metabolic status among individuals within the same obesity range. Obese individuals are at an increased risk of arterial stiffness regardless of their metabolic conditions. VAI may be a surrogate marker for the assessment of obesity and the effects of obesity on arterial stiffness.