Associations between anthropometric and body composition indices with subclinical arterial damage in chronic inflammatory diseases.

Abstract

Anthropometric and body composition indices are associated with subclinical arterial damage (SAD) in populations with overweight and obesity, but limited data exist in populations with chronic inflammatory diseases (CID). Herein we tested the hypothesis that the associations of anthropometric and body composition indices with macro- and microcirculation SAD markers differ in patients with CID compared to non-CID subjects. A total of 264 patients with CID (23.1% men, mean age ± standard deviation: 51.1 ± 12.9 years) and 491 CID-free individuals with cardiovascular disease risk factors (55.8% men, mean age ± standard deviation: 51.9 ± 11.6 years) were enrolled. Anthropometric measurements, carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV) and retinal vessel calibers were assessed in all participants. In non-CID individuals, all anthropometric indices were positively associated with IMT; most of them were positively associated with central retinal venular equivalent and inversely associated with central retinal arteriolar equivalent and arteriolar to venular ratio. In patients with CID, only body fat percentage [B = 0.002 95% CI (0.000, 0.004)], mid-upper arm circumference [B = 0.007 95% CI (0.002, 0.011)] and waist circumference [B = 0.001 95% CI (0.000, 0.003)] were positively associated with IMT, whereas none of the indices were associated with retinal microcirculation. No associations with PWV were observed in both groups. Body weight, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio were not associated with SAD markers in patients with CID. This may have an impact on the clinical use of these indices in the presence of CID, which needs to be elucidated by future studies.