Body composition indices and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes. CV biomarkers are not related to body composition

BACKGROUND: This study aims to explore the correlations of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and body composition with levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), endothelin 1(ET-1), N-terminal brain natriuretic pro-peptide (NT-proBNP) and calculated cardiovascular risks. METHODS: 102 women and 67 men with type 2 diabetes participated. Serum levels of NT-proBNP were measured by electro-hemi-luminescence while ELISA were used for ADMA and ET-1. Cardiovascular risks were calculated using the Framingham Risk Score (FRS), the UKPDS 2.0 and the ADVANCE risk engines. Statistical analysis was performed on an IBM SPSS 19.0. RESULTS: The BMI outperformed all other indices of obesity (WC, WHtR, WHR), as well as body composition parameters (body fat%, fat mass, fat free mass and total body water) in relation to the estimated risks for coronary heart disease and stroke, based on different calculators. The correlations of the obesity indices with the serum cardiovascular biomarkers were not significant except for BMI and fat mass versus ET-1, and for fat free mass and total body water versus ADMA. CONCLUSIONS: The WC, WHR, WHtR, BF%, FM and FFM apparently do not add significant information related to the levels of cardiovascular biomarkers or the calculated CV-risks.