Body fat percentage is more strongly associated with biomarkers of low-grade inflammation than traditional cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy young adults – the Lifestyle, Biomarkers, and Atherosclerosis study

Figures & data

Table 1. Baseline characteristics.

Male, n = 259	31%	Female, n = 575	69%	p Value
Age	22 ± 2.0		22 ± 1.9	n.s.
Bioimpedance fat percentage (%)	15 ± 5.6		28 ± 6.6	<.001
BMI (kg/m^2)	23 ± 3.1		22 ± 3.6	<.001
LDL (mmol/L)	2.3 ± 0.69		2.3 ± 0.71	n.s.
HDL (mmol/L)	1.2 ± 0.28		1.4 ± 0.36	<.001
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	4.0 ± 0.79		4.3 ± 0.77	<.001
Trigylcerides (mmol/L)	0.79 ± 0.35		0.81 ± 0.36	n.s.
Fasting serum insulin (mIU/L)	7.5 ± 3.7		8.0 ± 4.5	n.s.
apo B/apo A1 ratio	0.56 ± 0.14		0.51 ± 0.14	<.001
hsCRP (mg/L)	1.3 ± 2.7		1.9 ± 4.0	.027
Orosomucoid (g/L)	0.72 ± 0.16		0.68 ± 0.17	<.001

Mean ± SD (standard deviation). n.s.: non-significant.

Table 2. Estrogen contraceptive use and mean differences in population characteristics, body composition and laboratory investigations among women in the LBA study.

Non-estrogen using women, n = 415		Estrogen contraceptive using women, n = 162		p Value
Age	22 ± 1.9	Age	22 ± 1.9	n.s
Bioimpedance fat percentage (%)	28 ± 6.7	Bioimpedance fat percentage (%)	28 ± 6.5	n.s
BMI (kg/m^2)	22 ± 3.8	BMI (kg/m^2)	22 ± 3.2	n.s
LDL (mmol/L)	2.2 ± 0.64	LDL (mmol/L)	2.6 ± 0.82	<.001
HDL (mmol/L)	1.4 ± 0.36	HDL (mmol/L)	1.5 ± 0.38	n.s
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	4.2 ± 0.74	Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	4.5 ± 0.80	<.001
Trigylcerides (mmol/L)	0.75 ± 0.32	Trigylcerides (mmol/L)	0.98 ± 0.41	<.001
Fasting serum insulin (mIU/L)	7.9 ± 4.8	Fasting serum insulin (mIU/L)	8.1 ± 4.0	n.s
apo B/apo A1 ratio	0.51 ± 0.14	apo B/apo A1 ratio	0.52 ± 0.15	n.s
hsCRP (mg/L)	1.3 ± 2.2	hsCRP (mg/L)	3.4 ± 6.4	<.001
Orosomucoid (g/L)	0.70 ± 0.17	Orosomucoid (g/L)	0.62 ± 0.16	<.001

Mean ± SD (standard deviation). n.s.: non-significant.

Figure 1. CRP and Orosomucoid as functions of decentiles of body fat percentage for men and women. All variables are z-score transformed. Bars: 95% confidence interval.

Table 3. Associations of the inflammatory biomarkers CRP and orosomucoid with body fat percentage. All variables were ln transformed and sex-specific z scores were used in the general linear models.

	CRP			Orosomucoid
	βF% (95% CI)	p	R^2 adj	βF% (95% CI)	p	R^2 adj
Univariate	0.30 (0.24–0.37)	<.001	0.091	0.28 (0.22–0.35)	<.001	0.081
Model 1	0.28 (0.21–0.35)	<.001	0.093	0.22 (0.15–0.29)	<.001	0.10
Model 2	0.28 (0.20–0.35)	<.001	0.092	0.20 (0.13–0.27)	<.001	0.11

CI: confidence interval; β_F% : standardized β coefficient for body fat percentage. Model 1 includes, in addition to body fat percentage, fasting serum insulin. Model 2 includes, in addition to Model 1, apo B/apo A1 ratio.

Table 4. Associations of the inflammatory biomarkers CRP and orosomucoid with body fat percentage, stratified for estrogen contraceptive use in the female cohort.

CRP
	Non-estrogen using women (n = 415)			Estrogen using women (n = 162)
	βF% (95% CI)	p	R^2 adj	βF% (95% CI)	p	R^2 adj
Univariate	0.38 (0.26–0.42)	<.001	0.14	0.25 (0.10–0.43)	.001	0.056
Model 1	0.36 (0.23–0.41)	<.001	0.14	0.24 (0.072–0.43)	.006	0.050
Model 2	0.36 (0.23–0.41)	<.001	0.14	0.25 (0.085–0.45)	.004	0.055
Orosomucoid
	Non-estrogen using women (n = 415)			Estrogen using women (n = 162)
	βF% (95% CI)	p	R^2 adj	βF% (95% CI)	p	R^2 adj
Univariate	0.29 (0.21–0.38)	<.001	0.099	0.35 (0.19–0.51)	<.001	0.10
Model 1	0.22 (0.13–0.31)	<.001	0.12	0.26 (0.086–0.42)	.004	0.13
Model 2	0.19 (0.099–0.28)	<.001	0.18	0.27 (0.097–0.44)	.002	0.13

CI: confidence interval; β_F%: standardized β coefficient for body fat percentage. Model 1 includes, in addition to body fat percentage, fasting serum insulin. Model 2 includes, in addition to Model 1, apo B/apo A1 ratio.