Epicardial Adipose Tissue Thickness is Related with Systolic Blood Pressure, But not with Atherogenic Indicators in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Background: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been proposed as a marker of cardiovascular risk, however there are few studies regarding its relationship with atherogenic risk, particularly in the population with diabetes.

Objective: to assess the impact of EAT on different atherogenic index in diabetic patients from a population from Mexico City.

Material and method: Case-control study. Patients of both genders with or without type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM), without previously known cardiac, thyroid, renal or malignant abnormalities were included. Sociodemographic, clinical, and biochemical data were collected, including anthropometry, blood pressure, blood glucose, HbA1c levels, serum lipids, and the calculation of various atherogenic indicators such the Castelli, Kannel, and Tg/HDL ratios. The echocardiogram was used to calculate the EAT. T-tests were used to compare the epicardial fat means. Using Pearson's analysis and association risk, the correlation and connection of epicardial fat thickness with atherogenic index was assessed.

Results: There were 71 individuals in total, 35 of them had type 2 diabetes and 36 had not. Their average age was 49.1 9.4 years. Groups of people who share similar traits in terms of height, age, sex, BMI, and waist size. In the group with DM2, the EAT were higher (5.1 0.8 vs 3.3 0.9 mm, p 0.001). When the study population was separated into groups based on the median EAT (> 4.2 1.2 mm), it was found that those groups had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) values (p 0.001). The Castelli, Kannel, and Tg/HDL means in DM2 are the same as those in non-DM2, with no differences. But in the multivariate linear regression analysis, BMI and SBP showed a positive connection (r = 0.33, odds ratio 2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.45 to 8.72); It served as an independent EAT predictor for the rise in SBP.

Conclusions: The study indicates a substantial association between EAT and SBP, especially in patients with DM2. However, there was no evidence of a connection with atherogenic markers.