Can increased visceral adiposity without body weight changes accelerate carotid atherosclerosis in South Korean participants with type 2 diabetes?

Aims Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and visceral obesity are associated with each other and with cardiovascular diseases. We determined whether increased visceral adiposity without weight gain was associated with sex-specific accelerated carotid atherosclerosis in South Koreans with T2DM. Methods From 2003 to 2012, we recruited 280 participants with T2DM for the Seoul Metabolic Syndrome cohort who had body weight, visceral fat thickness (VFT), and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measured at intervals of 2 years. According to VFT change, sex-specific quartiles of clinical characteristics and changes of CIMT were determined. Logistic regression models predicted the odds of the progression of CIMTs in each quartile. Results During 2 years of observation, VFTs fell by 5.2 ± 13.5 mm in men (P < 0.001) and 3.4 ± 10.5 mm in women (P < 0.001). Progression of CIMT was only significant for women's maximal CIMT (0.031 ± 0.145 mm, P = 0.012), while significant improvements in HbA1c were found (0.9%; P < 0.001 in both sexes). There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics, or in progression of CIMT in men or women according to 2-year quartiles of VFT change. Conclusions Our results do not suggest that increased visceral adiposity without body weight changes impacts the CIMT progression in South Korean men or women with T2DM.