Original ArticleThe fat-to-lean mass ratio, a novel anthropometric index, is associated to glucose metabolic disorders
Introduction
A strong body of evidence shows that fat and muscle are interconnected in a way that, the imbalance between them may exert a synergistic effect on the risk of developing glucose metabolic disorders (GMD). It is well known that fat infiltration into muscle is associated with lower muscle strength [1,2] and progressive decline in total energy expenditure stemming from decreased physical activity and reduced basal metabolic rate [3]. In addition, it has been reported that fat infiltration into muscle, through activation of inflammatory pathways, is a triggering of insulin resistance [4,5].
Given the role of obesity and/or the fat/muscle imbalance in the pathogenesis of GMD, several anthropometric indexes, such as body mass index (BMI), total body fat, and the waist circumference (WC) have been used for both estimate the obesity status and early recognizing the risk of developing GMD [[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11]].
Within this context, we evaluated whether the imbalance between total body fat and total lean mass, measured by the Fat-to-Lean Mass (FyM) ratio, is associated to GMD.
Section snippets
Materials/subjects and methods
With the approval of protocol by the Mexican Social Security Institute Research Committee, and after obtained the informed consent of participants, a cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2015 to January 2018.
Apparently healthy men and non-pregnant women, aged 30 to 65 years with new diagnosis of GMD were eligible to participate. Previous diagnoses of GMD, pregnancy, renal or hepatic diseases, malignancy, and corticoids therapies were exclusion criteria.
All participants underwent
Results
A total of 875 individuals with average age 41.6 ± 12.3 were enrolled; of them, 645 (73.1%) women and 230 (22.8%) men; 521 (59.5%), 283 (32.3%), and 71 (8.1%) individuals in the groups with NGT, prediabetes, and diabetes, respectively. There was significant statistical difference by sex for the individuals in the NGT group (369 women and 152 men, p = .02), but not in the groups with prediabetes (219 women and 64 men, p = .057), and diabetes (57 women and 14 men, p = .12). Fig 1, Fig. 2 shows
Discussion
Our results show that FyM index, as indicator of imbalance between total body fat and lean mass, is strongly associated to diabetes and all categories of prediabetes. Furthermore, as compared with other anthropometric measurements, the FyM index showed a higher correlation with all categories of GMD.
It has been reported that the imbalance between lean and fat masses is associated with chronic inflammation [14] and that the increase in fat deposition promotes intramyocellular lipid accumulation,
Conclusion
The strong associations of FyM index with all categories of GMD supports the statement that it appropriately mirrors the imbalance between body fat and lean mass.
Declaration interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Funding
Mexican Social Security Institute (FIS/IMSS/PRIO/13/026).
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the physicians, chemists, and participant personnel of the Biomedical Research Unit of the Mexican Security Institute at Durango.
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