Hypertriglyceridemic Waist is Associated with Increased Carotid Atherosclerosis in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have an unacceptably high risk of death, primarily as a result of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The 'hypertriglyceridemic waist' phenotype has been proposed as a simple and strong predictor of CVD risk. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype and carotid atherosclerosis in CKD patients. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, we enrolled 785 prevalent CKD patients [416 males, aged 44.6 years (21.7-69.4), glomerular filtration rate 52.5 ml/min/1.73 m(2) (5.3-119.4)]. We divided the patients into three groups: group 1: waist circumference >90 cm in men or >85 cm in women and triglycerides ≥2 mmol/l (n = 109); group 3: waist circumference ≤90 cm in men or ≤85 cm in women and triglycerides <2 mmol/l (n = 379), and group 2: the remaining patients (n = 297). Routine biochemical parameters and carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) were measured. RESULTS: The prevalence of the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotypes was 13.8% in the CKD patients. Triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in group 1 were significantly higher than those in group 3. Carotid artery IMT of the hypertriglyceridemic waist group was the highest. CONCLUSION: The hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype was associated with worse carotid atherosclerosis in CKD patients. This suggests that the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype may be useful for predicting CVD risk in CKD patients.