Abstract

Abnormal lipid profile, insulin resistance and hypoadiponectinemia are well recognized risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. These risk factors are more prevalent among subjects with increased body adiposity. To study the relationships of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) with fasting adipokines (leptin and adiponectin), lipid profile, and insulin sensitivity, a cross-sectional study was undertaken on 127 healthy young females randomly recruited from the College of Medicine at KAU in KSA. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical parameters were estimated. Significant increase in insulin, fasting blood glucose (FBG), HOMA-IR, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and LDL-C were found in subjects with WC > 80 cm compared to those with WC ≤ 80 cm. When the mean of the 3rd quartile of WC was taken as a cutoff point, similar increase in all the parameters was also found in addition to a significantly lower adiponectin level at a WC ≥ 74 cm. Similar abnormalities were found at BMI ≥ 23 kg/m² (mean of the 2nd quartile). Moreover, WC was a negative predictor of adiponectin and a positive one of insulin and HOMA-IR, while BMI was a positive predictor of FBG, TC, TG and LDL-C. In conclusion, hypoadiponectemia, hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance were observed at WC and BMI that are normal by Western definitions. Our findings suggest the need to establish local WC and BMI cutoff points to identify subjects with hyperlipidemia, hypoadeponectinemia, and insulin resistance that may be missed when the Western and North American criteria are used.

Key words: Lipid profile, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, Saudi female.