Ultrasound-measured visceral adipose tissue thickness and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Visceral obesity plays a pivotal role in initiating and sustaining chronic systemic inflammation through complex interactions involving adipose tissue dysfunction, insulin resistance, immune system activation, and gut microbiome composition. Visceral obesity is also hypothesized to contribute to the development and progression of extraintestinal manifestations and complications in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim was to evaluate the interrelationships between ultrasound-measured visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness with carotid artery atherosclerosis indicators in IBD patients.

METHODS AND

RESULTS

The study included 90 patients with IBD aged 40-64 years. All patients underwent duplex ultrasound scanning of the carotid arteries with measurement of carotid plaque burden indicators. Ultrasound measurements of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue thickness (ATT) were performed: minimal subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness (mSATT), maximal preperitoneal adipose tissue thickness (mPATT), periumbilical subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness (PSATT), visceral abdominal adipose tissue thickness, peri- and pararenal adipose tissue thickness. Ultrasound-derived indicators of visceral obesity (mPATT and abdominal ATT), but not BMI or WC, were associated with an increased odds ratio for the presence of carotid plaque after adjustment for sex and age. Both mPATT and abdominal ATT demonstrated positive correlations with apoB concentration, LDL-C, sdLDL, eLDL-TG, and inverse correlations with adiponectin concentration.

CONCLUSION

In patients with IBD aged 40-64 years, visceral adipose tissue thickness measured by ultrasound and WC were associated with the carotid plaque burdens. Ultrasound-measured mPATT and abdominal ATT, but not BMI and WC, were independently associated with carotid atherosclerosis in patients with IBD.