Visceral adiposity in Saudi females and its relationship to diet and serum adipocytokine levels

To investigate the relationship between visceral fat, habitual dietary intake and circulating levels of three adipokines in Saudi females. A total of 127 apparently healthy female students were randomly recruited from Medicine College at KAU, Saudi Arabia. Anthropometric measurements were performed and a questionnaire was used to assess demographic variables, general health, medication use and dietary intake. Biochemical parameters were measured in fasting blood samples. Subjects were categorized into 2 subgroups according to presence or absence of visceral obesity, which was defined by a waist circumference (WC) value above 75th percentile. Significantly lower serum adiponectin (p<0.01) in addition to significantly higher serum lipid parameters, glucose, insulin (p<0.0001), leptin and dietary protein levels (p<0.05) were found among subjects with WC≥79 cm than those with WC<79 cm. Multiple regression analysis identified serum adiponectin (β= -0.71, P=0.013), leptin (β= 0.335, P=0.05) and daily intake level of adjusted protein (β= 2.817, P=0.011) as independent predictors for WC. Hypoadiponectemia, hyperleptinemia and high dietary protein level adjusted for total caloric intake are suggested to be associated with visceral fat among a group of Saudi females independent of body weight.