Metabolically Healthy Obesity, Transition to Metabolic Syndrome, and Cardiovascular Risk

Morgana Mongraw-Chaffin; Meredith C Foster; Cheryl A M Anderson; Gregory L Burke; Nowreen Haq; Rita R Kalyani; Pamela Ouyang; Christopher T Sibley; Russell Tracy; Mark Woodward; Dhananjay Vaidya

doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.02.055

Metabolically Healthy Obesity, Transition to Metabolic Syndrome, and Cardiovascular Risk

J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018 May 1;71(17):1857-1865. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.02.055.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology & Prevention, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Electronic address: mmongraw@wakehealth.edu.
² Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
³ Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, California; Department of Medicine, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, California; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
⁴ Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
⁵ New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.
⁶ Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
⁷ Great Point Health, Portland, Oregon.
⁸ Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Biochemistry, Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, Colchester, Vermont.
⁹ Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; The George Institute for Global Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

Abstract

Background: Debate over the cardiometabolic risk associated with metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) continues. Many studies have investigated this relationship by examining MHO at baseline with longitudinal follow-up, with inconsistent results.

Objectives: The authors hypothesized that MHO at baseline is transient and that transition to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and duration of MetS explains heterogeneity in incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality.

Methods: Among 6,809 participants of the MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) the authors used Cox proportional hazards and logistic regression models to investigate the joint association of obesity (≥30 kg/m²) and MetS (International Diabetes Federation consensus definition) with CVD and mortality across a median of 12.2 years. We tested for interaction and conducted sensitivity analyses for a number of conditions.

Results: Compared with metabolically healthy normal weight, baseline MHO was not significantly associated with incident CVD; however, almost one-half of those participants developed MetS during follow-up (unstable MHO). Those who had unstable MHO had increased odds of CVD (odds ratio [OR]: 1.60; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14 to 2.25), compared with those with stable MHO or healthy normal weight. Dose response for duration of MetS was significantly and linearly associated with CVD (1 visit with MetS OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.27 to 2.07; 2 visits, OR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.48 to 2.49; 3+ visits, OR: 2.33; 95% CI: 1.89 to 2.87; p value for trend <0.001) and MetS mediated approximately 62% (44% to 100%) of the relationship between obesity at any point during follow-up and CVD.

Conclusions: Metabolically healthy obesity is not a stable or reliable indicator of future risk for CVD. Weight loss and lifestyle management for CVD risk factors should be recommended to all individuals with obesity.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; epidemiology; metabolic syndrome; metabolically healthy obesity; mortality; obesity.

Publication types

Multicenter Study
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Aged
Cardiovascular Diseases / etiology*
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Metabolic Syndrome / etiology*
Metabolic Syndrome / mortality
Middle Aged
Obesity, Metabolically Benign / complications*
Obesity, Metabolically Benign / mortality
United States / epidemiology

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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