Association Between the Visceral Adiposity Index and Arterial Stiffness: Results of the EVasCu Study and a Meta-Analysis Including EVasCu Data and Prior Studies

TL;DR

This study finds a link between visceral fat and arterial stiffness in healthy adults, suggesting that higher visceral fat is associated with stiffer arteries.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence of a consistent association between visceral adiposity index and arterial stiffness through original data and a meta-analysis.

Findings

The visceral adiposity index was moderately correlated with aortic pulse wave velocity in the EVasCu study.

The meta-analysis confirmed a significant pooled correlation between visceral adiposity and arterial stiffness across populations.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between the visceral adiposity index and arterial stiffness in healthy adults via original data from the EVasCu study and to contextualize these findings through a meta-analysis of previously published studies in the general population. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted in 389 healthy adults from the EVasCu study. The visceral adiposity index was calculated on the basis of waist circumference, body mass index, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, integrating the anthropometric and metabolic components of visceral adiposity. Arterial stiffness was assessed by the aortic pulse wave velocity. These original findings were complemented by a meta-analysis, including EVasCu data and data from prior studies, to obtain pooled correlation coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between visceral adiposity and arterial stiffness. Results: In the EVasCu study, the visceral adiposity index showed a statistically significant moderate correlation with the aortic pulse wave velocity (r = 0.281, p < 0.001). In the meta-analysis, the pooled correlation coefficient was 0.34 (95% CI: 0.27, 0.42), supporting a consistent association between the visceral adiposity index and both central and peripheral arterial stiffness across diverse populations. Conclusions: These findings indicate a positive association between the visceral adiposity index and arterial stiffness in both healthy individuals and populations with cardiometabolic conditions. However, given the predominantly cross-sectional nature of the evidence and the heterogeneity among the included studies, the results should be interpreted with caution. Further longitudinal, multivariable, and mechanistic studies are needed to clarify the clinical relevance of the visceral adiposity index beyond correlation and to determine its potential role as a complementary marker in cardiovascular risk assessment.

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