Association between thyroid hormones and visceral fat area in the patients with type 2 diabetes

Objective To explore the association between thyroid hormones and visceral fat area(VFA) in the patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods A total of 729 patients with type 2 diabetes, who joined National Metabolic Management Center(MMC) through Ningbo First Hospital from March, 2018 to July, 2019, were enrolled in this study. Blood tests were taken to assess their thyroid hormones and biochemical indexes. VFA and subcutaneous fat area(SFA) were obtained through bioelectrical impedance analysis. Statistics were later analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression. Results Spearman correlation analysis showed that VFA were positively correlated with T3、FT3(r=0.225 and 0.211, P 0.05). Multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that VFA was independently correlated with FT4 and FT3(P<0.01). An increment of 1 pmol/L in FT4 was associated with 1.759 cm2 increase in VFA, and increment of 1 pmol/L in FT3 was associated with 3.256 cm2 decrease in VFA. Conclusion VFA in patients with type 2 diabetes are correlated with FT3 and FT4. Key words: Visceral fat area; Thyroid hormones; Diabetes mellitus, type 2; Metabolic Management Center