DXA-derived visceral adipose tissue reference values and metabolic syndrome risk threshold in an Algerian adult population.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional analytical study
PubMed 40924743 · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0331867
What was done
This cross-sectional, analytical study evaluated dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; GE Lunar iDXA) visceral adipose tissue (VAT) measurements in 301 adults (147 men, 154 women; mean age 49.3 ± 15.1 years) randomly sampled from the electoral register of Tlemcen, Algeria. The authors performed binary logistic regressions to assess associations between VAT mass and cardiometabolic conditions (hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, IDF-defined metabolic syndrome, HOMA2-IR insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, and sleep apnea), and calculated receiver operating characteristic thresholds for predicting metabolic syndrome.
What was found
Median VAT mass was 1364 g (25th–75th percentiles: 690–2049 g) in men and 1060 g (585–1590 g) in women. All evaluated cardiometabolic risk factors were significantly associated with VAT mass. The optimal VAT thresholds for identifying metabolic syndrome were ≥1369 g in men (sensitivity 86.2%, specificity 74.2%, Youden's index 0.604) and ≥1082 g in women (sensitivity 76.3%, specificity 76.9%, Youden's index 0.532).
Why it matters
This study provides the first population-specific DXA reference values and risk-stratification thresholds for visceral adiposity in an Algerian adult population.
Limits
The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or prospective cardiometabolic risk. The sample size is modest (n = 301) and drawn entirely from a single urban municipality, which may limit generalizability to other regions or rural populations, and the derived cutoffs were not externally validated.
Cited by
- partial On a DEXA scan, a healthy target is to have less than 300 grams of visceral fat.