Effects of abdominal obesity on urinary protein excretion rate of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients with normal body mass index

Objective To investigate the effect of abdominal obesity (AO) on urinary protein excretion rate (UAER) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with normal body mass index (BMI). Methods From May 2016 to October 2016, 223 newly diagnosed T2DM patients (in-patient and out-patient) with normal BMI (18.5 kg/m2≤BMI 100 cm2) and AO (-) group which had 110 cases (VFA≤100 cm2). Data about BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure and other clinical characteristics were collected. Levels of body fat ratio, VFA, fasting insulin (FINS), and UAER were examined. Independent correlation between AO and UAER of diabetes was analyzed by multivariate linear regression analysis. Results Subjects in AO (+) group had higher smoking rate, alcohol use, BMI, VFA, SBP, uric acid, C reactive protein, triglyceride, creatinine, fasting glucose, FINS (t=-22.070--2.153, all P<0.05) and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (t=5.319, t=5.028, both P<0.001) than those in AO (-) group. UAER levels were also significantly higher in AO (+) group than in AO (-) group [29.4(22.2, 55.7) vs 18.4(15.4, 24.7) mg/24 h, t=12.540, P<0.001]. The correlation analysis demonstrated that VFA was positively correlated with UAER (r=0.462, P<0.001). The multivariate linear analysis showed that AO was an independent determinant of UAER in newly diagnosed T2MD patients with normal BMI (β=0.256, P=0.01). Conclusions VFA is positively associated with UAER in type 2 diabetes; AO is an independent risk factor for UAER in newly diagnosed T2MD patients with normal BMI. Key words: Diabetes mellitus, type 2; Body weight; Albuminuria; Obesity, abdominal; Visceral fat area