The relationship between body fat distribution and renal damage in Chinese with obesity.
OBJECTIVE
It has been recognized that in addition to being overweight, abnormal fat distribution may be associated with the etiology of metabolic syndrome. Asian people are more prone to develop visceral obesity than people in western countries. The present study was initiated to evaluate the relationship between visceral obesity and renal damage in Chinese obese people.


METHODS
As measured by computed tomography, the areas of visceral fat were compared between 30 patients with biopsy-proven obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG) and 20 obese volunteer controls that were free of renal diseases. The two groups were matched for age and sex.


RESULTS
It was found that the areas of visceral fat were markedly increased in patients with ORG, while body mass indexes were similar in the two groups. Patients with ORG also showed higher levels of total cholesterol and a higher degree of insulin resistance than the controls. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that visceral obesity was significantly associated with the prevalence of ORG (OR 1.136; 95%CI, 1.106-1.166; P=0.003). Interestingly, proteinuria level was related directly with waist circumference, visceral obesity and levels of total cholesterol, fasting glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR ( P<0.05). Moreover, only HOMA-IR was independently associated with proteinuria level in stepwise linear regression ( R=0.641; P=0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The present study illustrated the positive association between visceral obesity and ORG and between insulin resistance and proteinuria level in Chinese obese subjects.
Chen
H
H
Research Institute of Nephrology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
Liu
Z
Z
Li
S
S
Chen
Y
Y
Yang
B
B
Cai
J
J
Wang
Q
Q
Li
L
L
D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin