Objective: To determine whether the uric acid/highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (UHR) is associated with visceral fat area (VFA) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods: Participants aged 18– 70 years with a diagnosis of T2DM were recruited from the National Metabolic Management Center from January 2020 to July 2022. Medical data collected for all participants included medical history, general measures, carotid intima-media thickness, abdominal VFA, and subcutaneous fat area (SFA). The participants were divided into groups according to VFA ≥ 100 cm² (n=109) and VFA < 100 cm² (n=100).
Results: Compared with the VFA < 100 cm² group, the VFA ≥ 100 cm² group had higher height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), SFA, fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin, C peptide, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase, γ-glutamine acyltransferase (γ-GGT), uric acid (UA), triglyceride (TG), and UHR measurements and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (P < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between the groups for age, duration of T2DM, diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, IMT, glycosylated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Positive correlations were found between the UHR and height, weight, BMI, WC, HC, C peptide, ALT, γ-GGT, TG, and UA, as well as between VFA and these variables (P < 0.05). Both the UHR and VFA were negatively correlated with HDL-C (P < 0.05). Positive correlations were observed between VFA and the UHR as well as UA (P < 0.05), and a negative correlation was found between VFA and HDL-C (P < 0.05). Multivariate linear stepwise regression identified BMI, WC, UHR, SFA, and HC as influencing factors for VFA (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: UHR was positively associated with VFA in T2DM patients and may be a useful and convenient additional tool for metabolic risks in these patients.
Keywords: hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, visceral adiposity