The correlation between lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2 and central overweight status.

Objective: Being overweight is associated with an increased risk of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A₂ (Lp-PLA₂) can independently predict the risk of cardiovascular disease. This study is aimed to investigate whether Lp-PLA₂ was associated with an overweight status.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that enrolled 3760 Chinese adults (age, 18-50 years) who underwent medical examination department of Xiamen Chang-Gung Hospital (XCGH) from 2018 to 2020. To explore the distribution of overweight classifications in the Chinese population, we evaluated the correlation of the overweight status with Lp-PLA₂, after correcting for possible influencing factors.

Results: The Lp-PLA₂ level was greater in male than in female subjects (p < 0.001). Subjects with a central overweight status had a greater Lp-PLA₂ level than those with normal weight and a peripheral overweight status, in both male and female cohorts. The Lp-PLA₂ level was significantly greater in those with additional comorbidities (namely diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), overweight, and metabolic syndrome (MetS)). The age-adjusted and LDL-adjusted Lp-PLA₂ level also was significantly higher in the DM (+) and HTN (-) subgroups than in the DM (-), HTN (-), DM (-), and HTN (+) subgroups.

Conclusion: Lp-PLA₂ is associated with sex, central overweight status, diabetes, hypertension, and MetS in adults aged < 50 years and the age-adjusted and LDL-adjusted Lp-PLA₂ was significantly higher in the DM (+) and HTN (-) subgroups than in the DM (-) and HTN (-) and DM (-) and HTN (+) subgroups.