Screening of cardiometabolic risks clustering in young Pakistani adults classified by anthropometric traits.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate frequencies of metabolic risk phenotypes and their associations in body mass index and waist circumference-based obesity categories. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from August 2014 to March 2016. Anthropometric and clinical data of young adults was collected. All subjects were categorised into body mass index, waist circumference-based obesity categories and common metabolic risk phenotypes (hypertension, hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia) frequencies and their associations were estimated in age and gender adjusted models. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. RESULTS: Of the 2,000 participants, 800(40%) were females and 1,200(60%) were males. There were 500(25%) participants in each group, i.e. underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese. The overall mean age was 23.68±4.33 years (range: 16-30 years). All clinical parameters were significantly raised in general and abdominally obese class (p<0.05). Based on body mass index and waist circumference, the frequency of general obesity was 324(16.2%) and abdominal obesity was 994(49.7%). Co-morbid metabolic risk phenotypes were as follows: hypertension 1,098(54.9%) and 924(46.2%); hyperglycaemia 1,116(55.8%) and 550(27.5%); dyslipidaemia 300(15%) and 194(9.7%), respectively. The strongest associations of body mass index and waist circumference alone catergorised obesity were found with hyperglycaemia, (Odds ratio: 7.23, 6.49) followed by dyslipidemia (Odds ratio: 5.60, 5.67) and hypertension (Odds ratio: 3.28, 3.02). . CONCLUSIONS: Body mass index and waist circumference were found to be powerful, discriminating predictors of co-morbidities linked with general and abdominal obesity.

Identification of Metabolic risk phenotypes predisposing to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Pakistani Cohort.

OBJECTIVES: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged in the last two decades with worldwide prevalence of 25.24%. Due to its increasing frequency in Pakistan, it was aimed to identify disease predisposing metabolic risks and their association with NAFLD. METHODS: Anthropometric and biochemical investigations were collected from 1366 subjects with minor metabolic disturbances. Comparative analyses were performed to compute frequencies of common metabolic risk phenotypes while their associations with NAFLD were explored using regression analyses. The prevalence of NAFLD was also estimated in total, age, and gender-based population cohorts. RESULTS: Among metabolic risk phenotypes obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and dyslipidemia significantly associated (p<0.001) with NAFLD risk irrespective of age, gender, and BMI. Prevalence of NAFLD in total study cohort was 14.8%, 16.1% in males, 13.4% in females, 19.9% in ≥40 years and 8.7% in ≤40 years respectively. CONCLUSION: General Pakistani populations experiencing common metabolic disturbances are at high risk of NAFLD development, especially male gender and advanced age. Based on these parameters the stratified NAFLD population could be treated accordingly.