Central obesity and incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events in hemodialysis patients

Abstract

Background and aims: Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio have been shown to predict atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in the general population, but the association is less clear in patients with CKD. Both anthropometric measures of central obesity are surrogates for underlying fat and are prone to measurement error. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between central obesity determined by dual-energy X-ray -absorptiometry (DXA) and ASCVD among patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.

Methods and results: We prospectively analyzed a cohort of 166 prevalent hemodialysis patients (60 ± 12 years of age). Total adiposity (total fat mass) and central adiposity (android and gynoid fat mass) were assessed by using DXA. Central obesity was defined as a sex-specific android to gynoid fat mass ratio (A/G ratio) above the median. The main outcome measure was incident ASCVD events. Patients with central obesity had significantly higher BMI, total fat mass, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and triglycerides but significantly lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol than patients without central obesity. During a median follow-up of 4.3 years, 40 patients had an incident ASCVD event. Patients with central obesity did not display a significantly higher risk of ASCVD in multivariate Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 0.54-1.97). A/G ratio, when examined as a continuous variable, was not an independent predictor of ASCVD in either sex.

Conclusions: Hemodialysis patients with central obesity, as measured by the A/G ratio, had less favorable plasma lipid profiles and higher levels of inflammation but not an increased risk of ASCVD.

Keywords: Android fat mass; Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; Central obesity; Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; Gynoid fat mass; Hemodialysis; Mortality.