Association of abdominal fat with serum amylase in an older cohort: The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
OBJECTIVE
Abdominal fat is a major determinant of metabolic diseases in older individuals. Obesity and diabetes are associated with low serum amylase (SA) levels, but the association between SA and metabolic disease is poorly understood. We investigated the association of low SA with diabetes and sex-specific associations of serum amylase with abdominal fat in older adults.


METHODS
In community-dwelling volunteers from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (778 participants, age 66.8±13.6years), we assessed abdominal fat by computed tomography and diabetes status using the American Diabetes Association criteria. Linear regression analyses assessed the cross-sectional associations between abdominal fat and SA, and logistic regression assessed the odds of diabetes, given low SA.


RESULTS
In unadjusted analyses, individuals in the lowest SA quartile (<48μ/L) had 1.97 greater odds of diabetes, (95%CI, 1.01-3.83) than those in the highest quartile (⩾80μ/L). This association was no longer significant after adjusting for visceral adipose tissue area (VAT, dm(2)), abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT, dm(2)) or BMI. In adjusted analyses, VAT and SAT were significantly associated with SA in both sexes. Among women, SA was more strongly associated with VAT than with SAT or BMI; VAT (β=-0.117±0.048, P<0.001), SAT (β=-0.023±0.025, P=0.346) and BMI (β=-0.0052±0.075, P=0.49).


CONCLUSIONS
The association between SA and diabetes was explained mainly by abdominal visceral fat. In women, SA was more strongly associated with VAT than with BMI or SAT. These findings provide motivation for future mechanistic studies on SA's role in metabolic diseases.
Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD 21225, United States. Electronic address: diasjp@mail.nih.gov.
Jenny Pena
JP
Dias
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
Jennifer A
JA
Schrack
Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD 21225, United States.
Michelle D
MD
Shardell
Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD 21225, United States.
Josephine M
JM
Egan
Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD 21225, United States.
Stephanie
S
Studenski
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D000681:Amylases / Q000097:blood*; D015142:Baltimore; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors
D000681:Amylases
Abdominal visceral/subcutaneous fat; Aging; Diabetes; Serum amylase