Study On The Relationship Between Plasma H₂S Level And Visceral Fat Area In Young Men

Objective: The study is to investigate the change of plasma hydrogen sulfide（H2S）level in young men with different visceral fat area（VFA）and the relationship between the two variables.Furthermore,we discuss the role of H₂S in metabolic disorder caused mainly by central obesity based on the analysis of the correlation between free fatty acid（FFA）,oxidative stress（OS）and plasma H₂S level.Methods: Total 156 male subjects（aged 18-45）were recruited in the present study who had undergone an annual health check-up in Qinhuangdao during 2014.10-2015.10.The average age was 35.45±6.21 years old.They were divided into three groups according to the visceral fat area（VFA）: group A（VFA<75.57cm2）,group B（75.57cm2≤VFA<100.37cm2）,group C（VFA≥100.37cm2）.Those subjects were excluded from study enrollment according to: 1)secondary obesity,diabetes,uncontrolled hypertension（>160/90 mmHg）or specific treatment for these metabolic abnormality;2)cardiovascular or peripheral vascular disease,malignant tumors;3)severe hepatic or renal dysfunction（>1.5-fold elevation of alanine aminotransferase,aspartate aminotransferase,or serum creatinine >115 μmol/l）;4)acute and chronic inflammation;5)smoking（participants who have been smoking at least one cigarette per day for over 6 months were defined as smokers）,excessive drinking（participants who have been drinking more than 40g/d alcohol for over 5 years or drank more than 80g/d alcohol at least one day in two weeks）.The following information were all collected from the subjects: name,age,sex,smoking and drinking history,height,weight,waist circumference,hip circumference,blood pressure,VFA,TBF,H₂S free fatty acid（FFA）,fasting blood glucose（FBG）,fasting insulin（FINS）,triglyceride（TG）,total cholesterol（TC）,high-density lipoprotein cholesterol（HDL-C）,and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol（LDL-C）.VFA and plasma H₂S level were measured by the bioelectrical impedance analysis method and a fluorescence probe based method respectively.Then the body mass index（BMI）and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance（HOMA-IR）were calculated.All analyses were performed using the SPSS 17.0 statistical software（SPSS Company,Chicago,Illinois,USA）.Values were expressed as mean with standard deviation.When not normally distributed,the data were expressed as medians with interquartile ranges.Comparisons were done between the three groups using analysis of variance（ANOVA）and Pearson chi-square analysis.If there was statistically significant,multiple comparisons were made by least significant difference（LSD）test.A simple scatter plot and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to measure the strength of the association between two variables.Evaluation of relationships between various parameters and H₂S were based on multiple linear regression models（stepwise method）.P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:1 Decreased H₂S level（5.14±1.59 vs.4.14±1.22 vs.3.45±0.97）was accompanied by an increased VFA among the three groups（P<0.05）.There was a significant difference between every two group according to multiple comparisons（P<0.05）.2 There were negative correlations between plasma H₂S level and VFA（r=-0.502,P<0.001）、TBF（r=-0.403,P<0.001）、WC（r=-0.430,P<0.001）、BMI（r=-0.460,P <0.001）、FFA（r=-0.298,P<0.001）、FINS（r=-0.185,P<0.05）、HOMA-IR（r=-0.214,P<0.05）、 lnTG（r=-0.207,P <0.05）、 TC（r=-0.221,P<0.05）、 LDL-C（r=-0.289,P<0.001）respectively.No correlation was observed between age,FBG,BP,HDL-c and plasma H₂S level.3 Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that VFA（β=-0.027,P<0.001）and FFA（β=-1.139,P=0.029）were significant explanatory variables for plasma H₂S level,R2=0.281.Conclusions:1 Decreased H₂S level is accompanied by an increased visceral fat accumulation.There is a negative relationship between plasma H₂S level and VFA,BMI,TBF,WC,FINS,HOMA-IR,TG,TC,LDL-C in young men.2 Visceral adipose rather than BMI,WC or TBF may be a major determinant of plasma H₂S level in young men.3 No correlation is observed between plasma H₂S level and FBG,BP,HDL-C which indicate that plasma H₂S level cannot be affect by FBG,BP,HDL-C.