Effect of Longitudinal Changes in Visceral Fat Area and Other Anthropometric Indices to the Changes in Metabolic Risk Factors in Japanese Men: The Hitachi Health Study

Yumi Matsushita; Toru Nakagawa; Shuichiro Yamamoto; Yoshihiko Takahashi; Tetsuji Yokoyama; Tetsuya Mizoue; Mitsuhiko Noda

doi:10.2337/dc11-1320

Original Research

Effect of Longitudinal Changes in Visceral Fat Area and Other Anthropometric Indices to the Changes in Metabolic Risk Factors in Japanese Men

The Hitachi Health Study

Yumi Matsushita, PHD¹ ⇓,
Toru Nakagawa, MD, PHD²,
Shuichiro Yamamoto, MD, PHD²,
Yoshihiko Takahashi, MD, PHD³,
Tetsuji Yokoyama, MD, PHD⁴,
Tetsuya Mizoue, MD, PHD⁵ and
Mitsuhiko Noda, MD, PHD³

¹Department of Clinical Research Coordination, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
²Hitachi Health Care Center, Hitachi, Ltd., Ibaraki, Japan
³Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Medicine and Diabetes Research Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
⁴Department of Health Promotion, National Institute of Public Health, Saitama, Japan
⁵Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Corresponding author: Yumi Matsushita, ymatsushita{at}ri.ncgm.go.jp.

Diabetes Care 2012 May; 35(5): 1139-1143. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc11-1320

Abstract

OBJECTIVE The effects of longitudinal changes in the visceral fat area (VFA), and other anthropometric indices, on the risk factors of metabolic syndrome were not studied. We calculated the changes in metabolic risk factors in relation to changes in certain anthropometric indices in a large-scale study of Japanese men.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The subjects were 1,106 men participating in the Hitachi Health Study who received a computed tomography examination in both 2004 and 2007. VFA, subcutaneous fat area (SFA), and waist circumference were measured using the computed tomography. We examined how longitudinal changes in each anthropometric index over a 3-year period influenced the value of each metabolic risk factor.

RESULTS Changes (∆) over a 3-year period in body weight, SFA, and waist circumference strongly correlated, while the changes in body weight and VFA were weakly correlated. Changes in the VFA were associated with changes in metabolic risk factors, especially changes in triglyceride and HDL; we found these changes to be independent of the ∆body weight and ∆waist circumference.

CONCLUSIONS Change in body weight is not a precise surrogate marker of ∆VFA, and repeated VFA measurements over time are useful. Adopting a lifestyle that does not increase the VFA is important in preventing metabolic syndrome.

Received July 14, 2011.
Accepted January 19, 2012.

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