Relationship Between Body Composition With Carotid Intima Media Thickness in Young Adults: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study.

Higher skeletal muscle mass index (SMMI) quartiles were associated with increased odds of high cIMT in both men and women after age adjustment.

• In the age-adjusted model, the highest quartile (Q4) of SMMI was associated with high cIMT with an OR of 1.80 (95% CI, 1.02–3.20) in men.
• In the age-adjusted model, the highest quartile (Q4) of SMMI was associated with high cIMT with an OR of 2.17 (95% CI, 1.14–4.13) in women.
• High cIMT was defined as above the 75th percentile.
• Study included 795 participants (361 women, 434 men) from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) cohort of young adults.

Further adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors attenuated some associations between SMMI quartiles and cIMT, particularly for SMMI quartiles.

• While associations were significant after adjustment for age, further adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors attenuated some associations, particularly for SMMI quartiles.
• SMMI and SMM as continuous variables remained positively and significantly associated with cIMT in both sexes after full adjustment.
• For fully-adjusted continuous SMMI: β = 0.010 in men and β = 0.013 in women.
• This indicates a persistent linear relationship independent of major confounders.

Body composition was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and cIMT was used as an indicator of early atherosclerosis in this cross-sectional study.

• The study was conducted within the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) cohort, focusing on young adults.
• Anthropometric measurements, laboratory tests, and cIMT assessments were performed.
• Body composition parameters included skeletal muscle mass index (SMMI) and skeletal muscle mass (SMM).
• Both linear and logistic regression models were used, adjusted for relevant covariates.

Higher skeletal muscle mass in young adults was independently associated with greater cIMT, suggesting it may signal early vascular changes rather than providing cardiovascular protection.

• The association was particularly noted when higher muscle mass coincided with higher adiposity.
• The authors conclude this finding underscores the need to assess overall body composition rather than muscle mass alone.
• The authors call for future longitudinal studies to determine causality.
• The finding challenges the assumption that greater skeletal muscle mass is necessarily cardioprotective in young adults.

The study sample consisted of 795 young adults drawn from the TLGS cohort, with a near-equal sex distribution.

• Total participants: 795 (361 women, 434 men).
• The study design was cross-sectional.
• Participants were young adults from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study cohort.
• Both sexes were analyzed separately in regression models.