Obesity and regional body-fat distribution in men: separate and joint relationships to glucose tolerance and plasma lipoproteins

Relationships between obesity and fat distribution as evaluated by computed tomography and metabolic variables were studied in 35 men. Significant correlations emerged between body mass index and sum of glucose during oral glucose load and HDL3 triglycerides and also between visceral abdominal fat and triglycerides, apolipoprotein B, sum of insulin during oral glucose load, very-low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol, and VLDL and low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) triglycerides. Visceral abdominal fat correlated negatively with the ratio of HDL to LDL cholesterol. When the subjects were subdivided into four groups according to body mass index (< or = 26.7, > 26.7) and median visceral abdominal fat, no significant differences were found in body mass index, whereas significant differences were found for triglycerides, cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, VLDL cholesterol, HDL:LDL cholesterol, and VLDL triglycerides. Our study shows that the amount of visceral abdominal fat is the most relevant factor for metabolic abnormalities. Our data also suggest that the effect of visceral fat is independent of body mass index.