Endocrinology · 3 h ago
Visceral fat modifies associations between fat-free mass and metabolic outcomes
A cross-sectional UK Biobank analysis of 59,269 participants found that associations between fat-free mass and metabolic outcomes differed by how fat-free mass was expressed. Visceral adiposity was the strongest modifier of associations with metabolic syndrome and elevated HbA1c.
- Analysis included 59,269 participants with DXA and MRI measurements.
- Associations differed between absolute, height-adjusted, and weight-relative fat-free mass.
- Visceral adiposity was the strongest modifier of metabolic associations.
- Cross-sectional findings cannot establish causality.
Fat-free mass (FFM) is often used as a surrogate for skeletal muscle, but its relationship with metabolic health may depend on body composition. Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 59,269 UK Biobank participants with both DXA and MRI body composition measurements. They assessed the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and elevated HbA1c across tertiles of total FFM, height-adjusted FFM, and FFM relative to body weight, examining modification by visceral adipose tissue, muscle fat infiltration, and circulating sex hormones.
Metabolic syndrome and elevated HbA1c became more prevalent across increasing tertiles of total and height-adjusted FFM. In contrast, higher FFM relative to body weight was associated with lower prevalence of both outcomes. Visceral adipose tissue had the strongest modifying influence. Muscle fat infiltration also modified associations for total and height-adjusted FFM, although some effects weakened after adjustment for visceral fat. Sex hormone effects were modest and varied by FFM metric.
The findings suggest that FFM should not be interpreted in isolation as an indicator of metabolic health; its expression and accompanying fat distribution matter. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or temporal relationships. Only the abstract was available, and it did not report effect sizes, confidence intervals, or outcome prevalence estimates.
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The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism: Relationship between fat-free mass and metabolic syndrome is shaped by ectopic fat in a UK Biobank cohort ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.