Original articleMeasurement of visceral fat by abdominal bioelectrical impedance analysis is beneficial in medical checkup
Introduction
Obesity is a precursor to lifestyle-related diseases, including coronary artery disease, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. The mechanisms by which obesity-induced lifestyle diseases develop have not been fully identified, but abnormal distribution of body fat, particularly excessive accumulation of visceral fat in the peritoneal cavity, has recently attracted attention [1], [2].
The incidence and severity of endocrine disorders of metabolism are elevated in obese individuals with excess accumulation of visceral fat compared to individuals with subcutaneous fat accumulation [3], [4], [5]. In addition, secretion of adipocytokines reportedly is associated with accumulation of visceral fat. Adipocytokines, such as adiponectin, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are proteins secreted by adipocytes, and the level of production of adipocytokines, such as PAI-1 and TNF-α, in visceral fat is greater than in subcutaneous fat [6], [7].
Accumulation of visceral fat plays a major role in the metabolic syndrome. Carr et al. reported insulin sensitivity was lower and the amounts of intra-abdominal and subcutaneous fat were higher in subjects diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome, based on the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) diagnostic criteria, than in subjects without the metabolic syndrome. Regarding the relationship between various risk factors for the metabolic syndrome and insulin sensitivity, intra-abdominal fat, and subcutaneous fat, only intra-abdominal fat was correlated with the risk factors for the metabolic syndrome [8].
Therefore, an accurate measurement of visceral fat is very important for the prevention of coronary artery disease. Currently, however, abdominal computed tomography (CT) is the only accurate measurement method available for the assessment of visceral fat area (VFA) [9]. Therefore, we developed a method for the measurement of visceral fat using abdominal bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), that allows for highly accurate estimates of VFA [10].
In this study, we estimated VFA using abdominal BIA, and examined the relationship between estimated VFA and the metabolic syndrome. Because abdominal BIA detected accumulation of excess visceral fat that was not detected using WC in some subjects, we also examined the characteristics of these subjects.
Section snippets
Subjects and methods
The subjects were males (n = 1803) who underwent a job-related medical checkup. The subjects gave written informed consent to voluntarily participate in this study after the importance of the evaluation of visceral fat levels as a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome was explained to them.
BIA was used to measure visceral fat with participants in the standing position during spontaneous exhalation. Venous blood was collected after a 12-h overnight fast. HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides
Results
The subject characteristics are shown in Table 1.
Discussion
Management of the amount of visceral fat is very important in the prevention of lifestyle diseases. Currently, the only method available at the medical checkup to assess visceral fat is measurement of WC. The home-based instruments currently available for measurement of body fat estimate only total body fat and cannot differentiate between visceral and subcutaneous adipose fat. Thus, an accurate method for the measurement of visceral fat has not yet been achieved [13], [14], [15].
Estimates of
Conflict of interest
This study was in part supported by Kao Corporaiton, Tokyo, Japan.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the subjects who participated in this study. We also thank Dr. Kazuhiko Hirobe and Dr. Yoshitsugu Tatsumi for allowing us to incorporate abdominal BIA measurements into the industry medical checkup. We also thank Mitsuhiro Katashima of Kao Corporation for adjusting the abdominal BIA apparatus.
References (18)
- et al.
Contribution of intra-abdominal fat accumulation to the impairment of glucose and lipid metabolism in human obesity
Metabolism
(1987) - et al.
Assessment of fat-free mass using bioelectrical impedance measurements of the human body
Am J Clin Nutr
(1985) - et al.
Contribution of visceral fat accumulation to the development of coronary artery disease in non-obese men
Atherosclerosis
(1994) - et al.
Waist–hip ratio is poor predictor of changes in visceral fat
Am J Clin Nutr
(1993) - et al.
Classification of obesity with respect to morbidity
Proc Soc Exp Biol Med
(1992) - et al.
The perils of portliness: causes and consequences of visceral adiposity
Diabetes
(2000) - et al.
Molecular mechanism of metabolic syndrome X: contribution of adipocytokines adipocyte-derived bioactive substances
Ann N Y Acad Sci
(1999) - et al.
Obesity and insulin resistance
J Clin Invest
(2000) - et al.
Production of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 by human adipose tissue: possible link between visceral fat accumulation and vascular disease
Diabetes
(1997)
Cited by (35)
Clinical usefulness of abdominal bioimpedance (ViScan) in the determination of visceral fat and its application in the diagnosis and management of obesity and its comorbidities
2018, Clinical NutritionCitation Excerpt :Mousa et al. [30] found also better correlation of FPG with VAT by ViScan than with WC, but worse for HDL-C and TG concentrations in a smaller sample (n = 285). On the contrary, Shoji et al. [31] found better correlations of HDL-C and TG level with VAT by ViScan than with WC in a large (n = 1803) sample of men. Our data in a larger sample (n = 2849) with individuals from both genders suggests that the estimation of VAT provided by the ViScan is a better predictor of the presence of alterations in lipid metabolism, hyperuricemia and fatty liver than anthropometry.
Decoding the Pot Belly
2014, Clinical Epidemiology and Global HealthComparison of obesity classification methods among college students
2019, Obesity Research and Clinical PracticeCitation Excerpt :However, BMI has also been shown to result in misclassification of weight status compared to AG [24]. Moreover, some findings suggest that BIA may offer minimal value over AG [25,26]. Research regarding the accuracy of BMI in comparison to other body composition measures and obesity classification methods of among college students is lacking, though findings indicate that BMI has high sensitivity and low specificity in college men, and low sensitivity and high specificity in college women with BF% used as the criterion variable [27].
Novel anthropometric measures are positively associated with erectile dysfunction: a cross-sectional study
2024, International Urology and Nephrology