Adipose tissue distribution in relation to insulin sensitivity and inflammation in Pakistani and Norwegian subjects with type 2 diabetes

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of clinical and laboratory investigation Vol. 74; no. 8; pp. 700 - 707
• Main Authors: Wium, Cecilie, Eggesbø, Heidi B., Ueland, Thor, Michelsen, Annika E., Torjesen, Peter A., Aukrust, Pål, Birkeland, Kåre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa Healthcare 01.11.2014; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Abdominal Fat - diagnostic imaging; Abdominal Fat - pathology; Adipokines - blood; Adult; Anthropometry; Body Fat Distribution; C-reactive protein; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - ethnology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - pathology; Female; human; Humans; immigrants; Inflammation Mediators - blood; Insulin Resistance; Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist; Leptin; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle, Skeletal - pathology; Norway; Organ Specificity; Pakistan - ethnology; Radiography; Southern Asia; subcutaneous adipose tissue; tomography; visceral adipose tissue; X-ray computed; C-reactive protein; Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist; Anthropometry; Leptin; Southern Asia; tomography; subcutaneous adipose tissue; human; insulin resistance; X-ray computed; immigrants; visceral adipose tissue
• ISSN: 0036-5513; 1502-7686; 1502-7686
• DOI: 10.3109/00365513.2014.953571

Abstract Immigrants from South Asia to Western countries have a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) associated with obesity. We investigated the relationship between diabetes and adipose tissue distribution in a group of younger T2DM subjects from Norway and Pakistan. Eighteen immigrant Pakistani and 21 Norwegian T2DM subjects (age 29-45, 49% men) were included. They underwent anthropometrical measurements including bioelectrical impedance analysis, CT scans measuring fatty infiltration in liver and adipose and muscle tissue compartments in mid-abdomen and thigh, a euglycemic clamp, and blood samples for serum insulin and plasma glucose, adipokines and inflammation markers. Adipose tissue distribution was similar in Norwegians and Pakistanis. Pakistanis, but not Norwegians, showed a negative correlation between insulin sensitivity and visceral adipose tissue (VAT, rs = − 0.704, p = 0.003). Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) correlated to leptin in both Pakistanis and Norwegians (rs = 0.88, p < 0.001 and 0.67, p = 0.001). SAT also correlated to C-reactive protein (CRP) in the Pakistanis only (rs = 0.55, p = 0.03), and superficial SAT to Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) in Norwegians only (rs = 0.47, p = 0.04). In conclusion, despite similar adipose tissue distribution in the two groups Pakistanis were more insulin resistant, with a negative correlation of VAT to insulin sensitivity, not present in Norwegians. The correlation of adipose tissue to Leptin, CRP and IL-1RA showed ethnic differences.