Distribution of Abdominal Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue and Metabolic Syndrome in a Korean Population

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the correlation between abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Korean adults after adjusting for the effects of visceral adipose tissue (VAT). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The SAT/VAT ratio (SVR) was calculated using abdominal computed tomography in 2,655 subjects. We used regression analyses to assess whether the SVR predicted MetS. RESULTS: For both sexes, the prevalence of elevated triglycerides, reduced HDL, and elevated fasting glucose significantly decreased with increasing quintiles of SVR (P for trend < 0.05). The prevalence and odds ratios of MetS significantly decreased as the SVR increased (men: odds ratio 0.5 [95% CI 0.3–0.7]; women: 0.2 [0.1–0.5] for comparisons of lowest vs. highest quintile; P for trend < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: After adjustment for VAT, abdominal SAT was inversely correlated with the occurrence of MetS.