Fat Deposition in the Nuchal Region Is Associated With Insulin Resistance and Low Metabolic Clearance Rate of Glucose in Adult Males

Background: The role of classical proxies for obesity such as the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) in the development of insulin resistance (IR) is well reported. However, there is the dearth of information on the association between subcutaneous fat deposition in the nuchal region and the development of IR.Objective: This study determined the interplay between thickness of cervical fat fold (CFF) and development of IR.Methods: Fifty adult males with CFF and 50 males without CFF were enrolled into this study. Standard Oral Glucose Tolerance Testing (OGTT) was performed and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2 hours post prandial glucose (2hrPPG), lipids, fasting insulin (FI), 2 hours postprandial insulin (2hrPPI) levels were determined. Thereafter, indices of IR and estimated metabolic clearance rate of glucose (eMCR) were calculated using standard formula.Results: Levels of FI, 2hrPPI and the median values of indices of IR were significantly higher while median values of indices of insulin sensitivity and eMCR were significantly lower in CFF compared with the controls. Predicting the diagnostic property of CFF for insulin sensitivity with reference to Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI) cut-off values, the Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUROC) was 0.695 (P-value = 0.043) and a CFF cut-off value of 12.5 cm had 75% sensitivity and 55.3% specificity.Conclusion: Adult males with CFF have IR and low eMCR and are thus, prone to developing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Also, CFF thickness appears to be a good anthropometric index of insulin resistance.