Lipid accumulation product (LAP), a product of waist circumference (WC) and fasting triglycerides (TG), is a measure of lipid accumulation and an effective predictor of metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of LAP and its longitudinal transitions with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among middle-aged and older Chinese.
Data were extracted from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018). LAP was defined as (WC-65) ×TG for men, and (WC-58) ×TG for women. Participants were classified into high- and low-LAP groups at baseline, and subsequently into four transition patterns during 2011-2015: maintained-high, maintained-low, high-to-low, and low-to-high LAP. The longitudinal transition patterns of LAP on the development of T2DM were assessed by multivariable Cox frailty models.
Overall, 7397 participants were included for analysis, among whom 849 (11.5%) developed T2DM between 2011 and 2018. Women with high-LAP levels at baseline presented a higher risk of T2DM (hazard ratios [HR]=1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-1.77), while no significant association was found in men. Compared with women with maintained-low LAP pattern, those with transition patterns of low-to-high LAP and maintained-high LAP were at higher risk of T2DM (HR =1.99 and 1.98, both
Elevated LAP levels and the transition patterns of maintained-high LAP and low-to-high LAP are significant risk factors for T2DM in women. Preventions are needed to combat T2DM at an early dyslipidemic stage.