Cigarette smoking could increase prevalence of carotid arterial plaque in obese male healthy collegiate students

Obesity is a known risk factor for several diseases and also negatively affects physical functioning. It is identified that obesity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease. However, only few studies have investigated the association of different anthropometric measures with carotid plaque. We in this study aimed to investigate, compare and find the correlation between four measures in normal and obese adults: Anthropometric, Blood Analysis, Smoking habit and presence of Carotid Arterial Plaque. We included 44 healthy young collegiate students aged 20-25 years and were divided into two based on their body mass index: normal weight (n=15) and obese (n=29). Anthropometric measurements such as body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist / hip ratio (WHR), body fat percentage (BFP) and visceral fat area (VFA) and from the collected venous blood, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and glucose were measured. Presence of carotid arterial plaque [CAP] was identified by ultrasonography. Plaque presence was defined as e”1 plaque in any of the carotid arteries. Data were analyzed using independent t-test. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to find the correlations between the measured parameters. After adjustment for age and sex between the groups, there was strong evidence of significant difference between groups for anthropometric measures [Weight, BMI, WHR, BFP and VFA] and also for serum HDL, LDL and triglycerides levels (p<0.01). But there was no difference for serum total cholesterol and glucose concentrations (p > 0.05). CAP was found in 69% of obese subjects and a strong correlation was found between smoking and presence of carotid plaque. A smoker is 1.84 times subjected to plaque occurrence than non-smoker among obese participants. In this study we found high prevalence of CAP among the obese adults. Occurrence of CAP was significantly increased among the smokers’ ones. Thus, evaluation of obese patients with this anthropometric, lipid profile and cigarette smoking could help the individuals to identify the risk of higher residual cardiovascular incidence. © 2018