We aimed to evaluate the association between abdominal fat distribution (e.g., abdominal visceral fat area [VFA], subcutaneous fat area [SFA], and total fat area [TFA]), waist circumference (WC), or body mass index (BMI) and atherosclerotic changes in the carotid artery after adjusting for common risk factors.

The present study is a hospital-based, cross-sectional study. Study participants included 223 Japanese individuals who underwent a medical health checkup at Juntendo University Hospital, Tokyo, between December 2005 and August 2011. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between abdominal VFA, SFA, TFA, the VFA/SFA ratio, WC, or BMI and intima-media thickness [IMT] (mean IMT≥1.1mm or maximum IMT≥1.2mm) as atherosclerotic changes in the carotid artery.

Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that VFA (OR for ≥150cm² versus <100cm², 3.88; 95% CI, 1.39–10.85), BMI (OR for ≥27.6kg/m² versus <25kg/m², 5.22; 95% CI, 1.69–16.16), and TFA (OR for 200–285cm² versus <200cm², 4.15; 95% CI, 1.34–12.86: OR for ≥285cm² versus <200cm², 5.53; 95% CI, 1.76–17.35) were significantly associated with atherosclerotic changes in men. After adjustment for BMI, only TFA (OR for ≥285cm² versus <200cm², 3.76; 95%CI, 1.03–13.79) in men was significantly associated with atherosclerotic changes in the carotid artery.

Our results indicate that VFA, TFA, and BMI are independently associated with atherosclerotic changes in Japanese men. TFA may be considered as a valuable measure of atherosclerotic changes.