Indirect Predictors of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Comparison of Methods

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 8; p. 2494
• Main Authors: Kałużna, Małgorzata, Czlapka-Matyasik, Magdalena, Bykowska-Derda, Aleksandra, Moczko, Jerzy, Ruchala, Marek, Ziemnicka, Katarzyna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22.07.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon; adipose tissue; Adipose tissues; Adiposity; Adolescent; Adult; Anthropometry; Biomarkers - blood; body fat; Body mass index; Body measurements; Case-Control Studies; Comparative analysis; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; fat mass index; Female; Humans; Insulin resistance; Intra-Abdominal Fat - metabolism; Intra-Abdominal Fat - physiopathology; lipids; Methods; Obesity; phenotype; Polycystic ovary syndrome; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - blood; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - diagnosis; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - physiopathology; Predictive Value of Tests; Reproducibility of Results; risk; Stein-Leventhal syndrome; Type 2 diabetes; waist; waist circumference; waist-to-height ratio; waist-to-hip ratio; Womens health; Young Adult; United States > US; waist-to-height ratio (WHtR); visceral obesity; android obesity; anthropometry; densitometry (DXA); polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13082494

Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation, is a part of a polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) phenotype. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) provides a gold standard measurement of VAT. This study aimed to compare ten different indirect methods of VAT estimation in PCOS women. The study included 154 PCOS and 68 age- and BMI-matched control women. Subjects were divided into age groups: 18–30 y.o. and 30–40 y.o. Analysis included: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist/height 0.5 (WHT.5R), visceral adipose index (VAI), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and fat mass index (FMI). VAT accumulation, android-to-gynoid ratio (A/G), and total body fat (TBF) was measured by DXA. ROC analysis revealed that WHtR, WHT.5R, WC, BMI, and LAP demonstrated the highest predictive value in identifying VAT in the PCOS group. Lower cut-off values of BMI (23.43 kg/m2) and WHtR (0.45) were determined in the younger PCOS group and higher thresholds of WHtR (0.52) in the older PCOS group than commonly used. Measuring either: WHtR, WHT.5R, WC, BMI, or LAP, could help identify a subgroup of PCOS patients at high cardiometabolic risk. The current observations reinforce the importance of using special cut-offs to identify VAT, dependent on age and PCOS presence.