Impaired fasting plasma glucose is a risk indicator of interventricular septum thickening among non-diabetic subjects with obesity

Aims: To evaluate whether progressively higher fasting plasma glucose (FPG) is associated to thickening of the interventricular septum (IVS) among non-diabetic subjects with obesity. Methodology: We studied 227 consecutive non diabetic patients (155 women and 72 men, age range 18–72 years) with overweight or obesity (BMI ≥ 25 Kg/m2), taking no medication or supplement. Hormonal, metabolic and routine laboratory parameters were collected. Echocardiography and ultrasonography echo-color Doppler of intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (IMT-CCA) were performed to evaluate intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (IVST) and early signs of atherosclerosis, respectively, in all enrolled subjects. Results: Of the 227 subjects, 48.9% had higher IVST values. Age (p 0.04), waist circumference (p 0.01), systolic (p < 0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.01), FPG (p < 0.01), insulin (p 0.04), HOMA IR (p = 0.01), uric acid (p < 0.01) serum levels, IMT-CCA (p < 0.01), and left atrial diameter (LAD) (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in subjects with pathological IVST. Logistic regression models demonstrated an independent relation of FPG to IVST, both in semi and fully adjusted models (ORs 1.045 and 1.039, respectively). Moreover, graph presentation of the ORs and 95% CIs by FPG quintiles showed a positive risk trend for pathological IVST. Conclusions: Higher FPG levels represent an independent sensitive predictor of IVS thickening in subjects with obesity, even before overt diabetes. These results emphasize the importance of preventive management of the diabetes risk in obesity.