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. 2021 Nov 10;13(1):129.
doi: 10.1186/s13098-021-00748-y.

The association between fat-to-muscle ratio and metabolic disorders in type 2 diabetes

Dixing Liu  1 , Jiana Zhong  1 , Yuting Ruan  1 , Zhen Zhang  1 , Jia Sun  2 , Hong Chen  3
Affiliations

The association between fat-to-muscle ratio and metabolic disorders in type 2 diabetes

Dixing Liu et al. Diabetol Metab Syndr. .

Abstract

Background: Altered body composition is known to be related to abnormal metabolism. The aim of this study was to determine the association between the fat-to-muscle ratio (FMR) and metabolic disorders in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) population.

Method: In total, 361 T2DM participants aged ≥ 18 years were included in our research. A bioelectrical impedance analyzer was applied to measure fat mass and muscle mass. FMR was calculated as body fat mass (kg) divided by muscle mass (kg). The performance of FMR to assess metabolic disorders in T2DM was conducted using ROC curves. The independent association between FMR and metabolic syndrome (MS) was tested by logistic regression analysis.

Results: The FMR was significantly higher in patients with MS than in those without MS (p < 0.001). The optimal FMR cutoff point for identifying MS was higher in females than in males (0.465 vs. 0.296, respectively). In addition, the areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) for the evaluation of MS by FMR, fat mass, muscle mass, BMI and waist circumference were further compared, indicating that the AUC of FMR (0.843) was the largest among the five variables in females, but the AUC of waist circumference (0.837) was still the largest among other variables in males. Based on the derived FMR cutoff point, patients with a high FMR exhibited more cardiometabolic risk indicators (all p < 0.05). Using a low FMR as a reference, the relative risk of a high FMR for MS was 2.861 (95% CI 1.111-7.368, p = 0.029) in males and 9.518 (95% CI 2.615-34.638, p = 0.001) in females following adjustment for confounding factors.

Conclusions: The fat-to-muscle ratio is independently and positively associated with metabolic disorders in T2DM. FMR may serve as an optimal method for screening T2DM patients coupled with a high risk of abnormal metabolism, especially in females, providing a new perspective for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular complications in Chinese type 2 diabetes.

Keywords: Body composition; Fat-to-muscle ratio; Metabolic disorders; Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declared no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The comparisons of fat-to-muscle ratio in T2DM patients with and without MS
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
ROC curve of anthropometric for detecting MS in male and female
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The proportion of metabolic disorders between low-FMR group and high-FMR group. Metabolic disorder was defined as a clustering of metabolic abnormalities that comprise type 2 diabetes, abdominal obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and low HDL-cholesterol. One metabolic disorder was defined as the absence of metabolic abnormalities other than T2DM. Two metabolic disorders were defined as T2DM + any 1 of 4 above items. Three metabolic disorders were T2DM + any 2 of 4 above items. Four metabolic disorders were T2DM + any 3 of 4 above items. Five metabolic disorders contained all the above items. p value for the significant difference between groups was determined by χ2 test
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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