Insulin resistance is associated with carotid intima-media thickness in non-diabetic subjects. A cross-sectional analysis of the ELSA-Brasil cohort baseline.
Epidemiological studies have analyzed the association between carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and insulin resistance, glucose levels or glycated hemoglobin with mixed results. We aimed to evaluate the association between CIMT and homeostasis model assessment - insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting and post-load plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) baseline.



We included 8028 participants (aged 35-74 years) without diabetes or overt cardiovascular disease who had complete CIMT data at baseline. We built crude and adjusted linear and binary logistic models to evaluate the association between CIMT and (a) HOMA-IR; (b) fasting plasma glucose; (c) post-load plasma glucose; and (d) glycated hemoglobin. We also built post-hoc models, stratified by sex.



In the fully-adjusted linear models, only the association between CIMT (in mm) and HOMA-IR remained significant (β = 0.004; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]:0.001 to 0.006). Consistent with these results, only the association between the highest age- sex- and race-specific CIMT quartile and HOMA-IR was significant in the adjusted logistic model (odds ratio [OR]:1.10; 95% CI:1.04-1.17). The association between HOMA-IR and the highest CIMT quartile remained significant in sex-specific analyses (OR:1.10; 95% CI:1.02-1.20 for men and OR:1.10; 95% CI:1.02-1.20 for women). We did not find an independent association between CIMT and glucose or glycated hemoglobin.



We found a direct association between HOMA-IR and CIMT in a large sample of non-diabetic participants. Mechanisms unrelated to glucose homeostasis, as a direct effect of insulin on atherosclerosis, or medial hypertrophy, may be involved.
Centro de Pesquisa Clínica e Epidemiológica do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil; Departamento de Clínica Médica da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: itamarss@usp.br.
Itamar S
IS
Santos
Centro de Pesquisa Clínica e Epidemiológica do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
Márcio S
MS
Bittencourt
Centro de Pesquisa Clínica e Epidemiológica do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
Alessandra C
AC
Goulart
Programa de Pós-graduação em Epidemiologia da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Maria Inês
MI
Schmidt
Departamento de Clínica Médica da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Maria de Fátima H S
MFHS
Diniz
Centro de Pesquisa Clínica e Epidemiológica do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil; Departamento de Clínica Médica da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
Paulo A
PA
Lotufo
Centro de Pesquisa Clínica e Epidemiológica do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil; Departamento de Clínica Médica da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
Isabela M
IM
Benseñor
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors
D007328:Insulin
Glycemic; Hyperinsulinemia; Insulin; Medial hypertrophy; Metabolism; Subclinical atherosclerosis