1 Youth/Child and Cardiovascular Risk and Environmental (YCARE) Research Group, Research Group, School University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. 2 Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Health Science Center, Federal University of Piauí, Piauí, Brazil. 3 Growth, Exercise, NUtrition and Development (GENUD) Research Group, School of Health Science (EUCS), University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. 4 Hospital of the Federal University of Piauí, Piauí, Brazil
Background: The lipid accumulation product (LAP) is a relatively simple and new marker for measuring cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). We examine the association between LAP index and DM indicators (glucose and insulin serum levels) in asymptomatic adults from Brazil.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with asymptomatic patients aged 20-60 years (n=201; 37.8% men) in Teresina (Piauí, Brazil), selected by probability sampling simple random. In the study were included patients without previous diagnosis of type 2 DM disease and that didn’t make use of continuous medication. The glucose and insulin serum levels (outcomes) were collected by 12-hour fasting blood samples and evaluated by Clinical Analysis Laboratory of the University Hospital of Federal University of Piauí. The LAP index was calculated as [waist circumference (cm)– 65]×[triglycerides (mmol/L)] for men, and [waist circumference (cm)–58]×[triglycerides (mmol/L)] for women (exposure factor). Associations were examined by multilevel linear regression, with confidence interval of 95% (CI95%). The analyses were adjusted for potential confounders: age and body mass index (kg/m2), and stratified by sex. Results: Among asymptomatic adults, LAP index, glucose serum levels and insulin serum levels (mean±SD) were, for male: 73.2±46.3, 113.3±38.1 mg/dL and 11.7±7.4mU/L, respectively; and for female: 61.7±51.6, 116.3±94.1 mg/dL and 9.4±6.2mU/L, respectively. In adjusted analyses, we found significant association between LAP index and glucose serum levels in men (β: 0.27; CI95%:0.06 to 0.48) and women (β: 0.55; CI95%:0.22 to 0.89). However, between LAP index and insulin serum levels we found significant association only for women (β: 0.036; CI95%:0.01 to 0.06). Conclusion: LAP is a simple predictor for glucose serum levels in asymptomatic Brazilian adults, and for insulin serum levels only in women. These findings could confirm the predictive power of LAP to diagnose type 2 DM in asymptomatic Brazilian adults.