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Is phase angle associated with visceral adiposity and cardiometabolic risk in cardiology outpatients?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Phase angle (PhA) serves as a prognostic marker in various clinical scenarios, reflecting oxidative stress and cellular damage. Despite its clinical relevance, its connection with adiposity and cardiovascular risk markers remains underexplored. Hence, our study sought to investigate the relationship between PhA and metabolic, adiposity, and cardiovascular risk parameters among outpatients with cardiology diagnosis.

Subjects/methods

Adults aged between 26 and 59 years, under the care of a cardiology unit, were included. Ultrasound imaging was used to assess visceral adipose tissue (VAT). Single-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) [50 kHz] was employed to calculate PhA, from BIA’s resistance and reactance measurements. Muscle strength, body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio were also evaluated. Framingham’s risk score was calculated to estimate the cardiovascular risk events. Metabolic blood samples’ results were obtained from medical records.

Results

One hundred and five participants were included in our study. Low PhA was observed in 29.5% of our sample. Higher PhA values were independently and inversely associated with both higher VAT and cardiovascular risk (adjusted OR: 0.79 [95% CI 0.69;0.91], OR: 0.74 [95% CI 0.60;0.89], respectively). Lower PhA values (≤5.59) were goodly associated with high VAT (AUC: 0.82 p < 0.001). Lower PhA values (≤5.06) were fairly associated with higher cardiovascular risk (AUC: 0.70 p = 0.003).

Conclusion

Our study provides evidence that PhA is independently and inversely associated with elevated VAT and cardiovascular risk. These findings underscore the potential of PhA as a valuable complementary marker in assessing cardiometabolic health.

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Data availability

Requests for the datasets generated during and/or analyzed will be considered based on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

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Funding

This study was partially funded by the Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (FACEPE) and by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil (Finance Code 001). The supporting source had no involvement or restrictions regarding this publication.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Victoria Domingues Ferraz, Jarson Pedro da Costa Pereira.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament of Nutrition, Federal University of Pernambuco, Prof. Moraes Rego Avenue, 1235 - Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil

    Victoria Domingues Ferraz, Jarson Pedro da Costa Pereira, Gabriela Maria Pereira Floro Arcoverde, Maria Conceição Chaves de Lemos, Alcides da Silva Diniz & Ilma Kruze Grande de Arruda

  2. Emergency Cardiology Unit of the University of Pernambuco, R. dos Palmares, n/n - Santo Amaro, Recife, Pernambuco, 74970-240, Brazil

    Claudia Porto Sabino Pinho Ramiro, Gabriela Maria Pereira Floro Arcoverde, Isa Galvão Rodrigues & Camila Lima Chagas

  3. Medical Science Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Prof. Moraes Rego Avenue, 1235 - Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil

    José Reginaldo Alves de Queiroz Jr

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Contributions

VD Ferraz and JPC Pereira equally contributed to the conception and design of the research; acquisition, analysis and interpretation of the data and drafted the manuscript; CPS Pinho Ramiro contributed to the to the conception and design of the research; critical revision of the manuscript and data interpretation; GMF Arcoverde, IG Rodrigues, and CL Chagas equally contributed to design of the design of the research; acquisition, and interpretation of the data. JRA Queiroz Júnior contributed to the design of the research, data analysis and drafted the manuscript. AS Diniz contributed to the design of the research and data analysis; IKG Arruda contributed to conception and design, data analysis and interpretation and critically revised the manuscript. All authors critically revised the manuscript, agree to be fully accountable for ensuring the integrity and accuracy of the work, and read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jarson Pedro da Costa Pereira.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Hospital Ethics Committee (CAAE: 47444121.1.0000.5208). Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Ferraz, V.D., da Costa Pereira, J.P., Pinho Ramiro, C.P.S. et al. Is phase angle associated with visceral adiposity and cardiometabolic risk in cardiology outpatients?. Eur J Clin Nutr (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-024-01435-7

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