Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Age-related adiposity and beta-cell function: impact on prediabetes and diabetes prevalence in middle-aged and older Han Chinese adults

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Endocrinological Investigation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the effect of aging on the prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes, and the influence of aging on the associations among adipose mass, redistribution, β cell function, and the prevalence of hyperglycaemia.

Method

This urban-based cross-sectional study included 1033 Chinese Han people, aged 40–65 years. The abdominal subcutaneous fat area (SFA) and visceral fat area (VFA) were determined by magnetic resonance imaging. The prevalence rates of prediabetes and diabetes were analyzed according to age group (40–49, 50–59, and 60–65 years). The effects of aging on abdominal fat mass, adipose distribution, insulin action indexes were also assessed.

Results

Prediabetes and diabetes prevalence gradually increased with age. Both SFA and VFA increased, while SFA/VFA decreased, in the 50–59 and 60–65 years age groups compared to the 40–49 years group. Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) increased with fat mass. Homeostatic model assessment of beta-cell function (HOMA-β) and early-phase insulin secretion (∆I30/∆G30) were decreased in the 60–65 years group compared to the younger age groups. Increased age, VFA, and HOMA-IR, as well as decreased HOMA-β, were risk factors for the development of prediabetes and diabetes. The associations between central obesity and the development of prediabetes and diabetes, but not the associations of SFA/VFA, HOMA-IR, and HOMA-β with hyperglycaemia prevalence, weakened with age.

Conclusions

The prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes increased with age. Central obesity may be related stronger to the development of hyperglycaemia in younger people.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wang L, Peng W, Zhao Z et al (2021) Prevalence and Treatment of Diabetes in China, 2013–2018. JAMA 326:2498–2506. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.22208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Yang W, Lu J, Weng J et al (2010) Prevalence of diabetes among men and women in China. N Engl J Med 362:1090–1101. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa0908292

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Li Y, Teng D, Shi X et al (2020) Prevalence of diabetes recorded in mainland China using 2018 diagnostic criteria from the American Diabetes Association: national cross sectional study. BMJ 369:m997. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m997

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Goossens GH (2017) The metabolic phenotype in obesity: fat mass, body fat distribution, and adipose tissue function. Obes Facts 10:207–215. https://doi.org/10.1159/000471488

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Chang AM, Halter JB (2003) Aging and insulin secretion. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 284:E7-12. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00366.2002

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Alberti KG, Zimmet PZ (1998) Definition, diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Part 1: diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus provisional report of a WHO consultation. Diabet Med 15:539–553. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1096-9136(199807)15:7%3c539::Aid-dia668%3e3.0.Co;2-s

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Luo Y, Ma X, Hao Y et al (2015) Association between serum osteocalcin level and visceral obesity in Chinese postmenopausal women. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 83:429–434. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.12793

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hirose H, Takayama M, Iwao Y et al (2016) Effects of aging on visceral and subcutaneous fat areas and on homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and insulin secretion capacity in a comprehensive health checkup. J Atheroscler Thromb 23:207–215. https://doi.org/10.5551/jat.30700

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjöström M et al (2003) International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:1381–1395. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.Mss.0000078924.61453.Fb

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Macfarlane DJ, Lee CC, Ho EY et al (2007) Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of IPAQ (short, last 7 days). J Sci Med Sport 10:45–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2006.05.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ipaq (2005) Guidelines for data processing and analysis of the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ)–short and long forms. https://www.academia.edu/5346814/Guidelines

  12. Frank AP, De Souza SR, Palmer BF et al (2019) Determinants of body fat distribution in humans may provide insight about obesity-related health risks. J Lipid Res 60:1710–1719. https://doi.org/10.1194/jlr.R086975

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Moreau KL (1985) (2018) Intersection between gonadal function and vascular aging in women. J Appl Physiol 125:1881–1887. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00117.2018

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Tchernof A, Brochu D, Maltais-Payette I et al (2018) Androgens and the Regulation of Adiposity and Body Fat Distribution in Humans. Compr Physiol 8:1253–1290. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphy.c170009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Xu L, Lu Y, Li N et al (2020) Cross-sectional associations of adipokines and abdominal fat distribution with aging in men. Aging Male 23:1576–1582. https://doi.org/10.1080/13685538.2021.1876020

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Obata Y, Yamada Y, Takahi Y et al (2013) Relationship between serum adiponectin levels and age in healthy subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 79:204–210. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.12041

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Choi SH, Ku EJ, Hong ES et al (2015) High serum adiponectin concentration and low body mass index are significantly associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in an elderly cohort, “adiponectin paradox”: the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging (KLoSHA). Int J Cardiol 183:91–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.01.057

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ng R, Sutradhar R, Yao Z et al (2020) Smoking, drinking, diet and physical activity-modifiable lifestyle risk factors and their associations with age to first chronic disease. Int J Epidemiol 49:113–130. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyz078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hu FB (2011) Globalization of diabetes: the role of diet, lifestyle, and genes. Diabetes Care 34:1249–1257. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc11-0442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Jensen MD (2008) Role of body fat distribution and the metabolic complications of obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 93:S57-63. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2008-1585

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Palmer AK, Kirkland JL (2016) Aging and adipose tissue: potential interventions for diabetes and regenerative medicine. Exp Gerontol 86:97–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2016.02.013

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Wakabayashi I, Daimon T (2012) Age-dependent decline of association between obesity and hyperglycemia in men and women. Diabetes Care 35:175–177. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc11-1775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Oda E, Kawai R (2009) Age- and gender-related differences in correlations between abdominal obesity and obesity-related metabolic risk factors in Japanese. Intern Med 48:497–502. https://doi.org/10.2169/internalmedicine.48.1765

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Miyazaki Y, Mahankali A, Matsuda M et al (2002) Effect of pioglitazone on abdominal fat distribution and insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 87:2784–2791. https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem.87.6.8567

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Kim S, Cho B, Lee H et al (2011) Distribution of abdominal visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue and metabolic syndrome in a Korean population. Diabetes Care 34:504–506. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc10-1364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Ortega Martinez De Victoria E, Xu X, Koska J et al (2009) Macrophage content in subcutaneous adipose tissue: associations with adiposity, age, inflammatory markers, and whole-body insulin action in healthy Pima Indians. Diabetes 58:385–393. https://doi.org/10.2337/db08-0536

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Lakowa N, Trieu N, Flehmig G et al (2015) Telomere length differences between subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue in humans. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 457:426–432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2014.12.122

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Shimizu I, Yoshida Y, Minamino T (2015) Maintenance of Subcutaneous Fat Homeostasis Improves Systemic Metabolic Dysfunction in Obesity. Diabetes 64:3984–3986. https://doi.org/10.2337/dbi15-0013

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Krishnamurthy J, Ramsey MR, Ligon KL et al (2006) p16INK4a induces an age-dependent decline in islet regenerative potential. Nature 443:453–457. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05092

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Tschen SI, Dhawan S, Gurlo T et al (2009) Age-dependent decline in beta-cell proliferation restricts the capacity of beta-cell regeneration in mice. Diabetes 58:1312–1320. https://doi.org/10.2337/db08-1651

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Zhu M, Liu X, Liu W et al (2021) Beta cell aging and age-related diabetes. Aging (Albany NY) 13:7691–7706. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.202593

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Hwu CM, Lin YC, Lin KH (2018) beta-Cell function in postmenopausal women with isolated post-challenge hyperglycemia. J Diabetes 10:158–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-0407.12571

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Ihm SH, Moon HJ, Kang JG et al (2007) Effect of aging on insulin secretory function and expression of beta cell function-related genes of islets. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 77(Suppl 1):S150-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2007.01.049

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (Grant nos. 2009BAI80B00 and 2012BAI02B03).

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (Grant nos. 2009BAI80B00 and 2012BAI02B03).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, The Affiliated Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 3 East Qingchun Road, Hangzhou, 310016, Zhejiang, China

    R. Qiu, B. Wu, Y. He, S. Huang, S. Wang, H. Li & F. Zheng

Authors
  1. R. Qiu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. B. Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Y. He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. S. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. H. Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. F. Zheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

FZ and HL conceived and designed the experiments; RQ, BW, YH, SH, SW participated the study and collected the data; data analysis was performed by FZ, RQ and BW; the first draft of the manuscript was written by FZ and RQ and all authors read and edited the manuscript, and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. Zheng.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study protocol was approved by the Sir Run Run Shaw hospital affiliated with Zhejiang University.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Qiu, R., Wu, B., He, Y. et al. Age-related adiposity and beta-cell function: impact on prediabetes and diabetes prevalence in middle-aged and older Han Chinese adults. J Endocrinol Invest 46, 405–413 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-022-01917-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-022-01917-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation