Correlation between head fat and metabolism in patients of obesity

Objective To investigate the association between head fat and metabolic parameters in Chinese obese patients.Methods The data of 99 obese patients were collected from the outpatient department,the Tenth People's Hospital of Shanghai from September,2011 to December,2014.The accumulated regional fat was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry(DEXA).The body weight,body mass index(BMI),neck circumference(NC),waist circumference(WC),hip circumference(HC),visceral index,basal metabolism(BM),liver function,fasting plasma glucose(FPG),fasting insulin,fasting C peptide,blood lipid,uric acid(UA)and C-reactive protein were also obtained for analysis.Results(1)The participants consisted of 35 men and 64 women,with a mean head fat of(1.67±0.34)kg.(2)The head fat was positively correlated with body weight,BMI,NC,WC,HC,visceral index,BM,head fat percentage,arm fat,arms and legs fat,trunk fat,total fat and total muscle in both male and female participants(male:r=0.620,0.616,0.670,0.678,0.663,0.635,0.518,0.635,0.488,0.458,0.588,0.618,and 0.579;female:r=0.624,0.593,0.610,0.672,0.482,0.657,0.647,0.616,0.639,0.336,0.467,0.544,and 0.762,repectively;all P0.05).In the female participants the head fat was positively correlated with fasting insulin and UA(r=0.348,0.349,all P0.05).For all the participants,the head fat was positively correlated with body weight,BMI,NC,WC,HC,visceral index,BM,UA,head fat percentage,upper arm fat,arms and legs fat,trunk fat,total fat,total muscle,and trunk/peripheral fat(r=0.664,0.598,0.685,0.716,0.575,0.703,0.610,0.288,0.526,0.542,0.346,0.527,0.564,0.688,and 0.207,respectively;all P0.05).(3)NC and WC were predictors of head fat for all subjects(β=12.802 and 29.138,both P0.05);WC was a predictor of head fat for males(β=21.108,P0.001);and total muscle,upper arm fat,and BM were predictors of head fat for females(β=0.046,0.116,and-0.914,all P0.05).Conclusion Head fat accumulation is closely related to the content and distribution of total fat and UA.Head fat may be used as an indicator for metabolic disorder risk for Chinese obese patients.