Diagnostic Performance using Obesity and Lipid‑Related Indices and Atherogenic Index of Plasma to Predict Metabolic Syndrome in the Adult Sudanese Population

Abstract

Background: Simple and accurate clinical indicators to detect metabolic abnormalities might be helpful for early management and lowering the risk of future consequences like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Aim: The visceral adiposity index (VAI), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) have been proposed as reliable, straightforward clinical markers and indications of metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study aimed to see how well these obesity and lipid‑related indicators will predict MetS in adult Sudanese patients. Subjects and Methods: This community hospital‑based case‑control study included 420 middle‑aged people (154 men and 266 women). Anthropometric measurements, weight (kilogram), height (meters), and waist circumference (WC) were evaluated, and the body mass index (BMI) and waist‑to‑height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. Fasting blood samples were collected for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and lipid profile assessment. VAI, LAP, and AIP were calculated. Results: Significantly higher means of BMI, WC, WHtR, HbA1c, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low‑density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‑C), triglycerides/high‑density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/ HDL‑C) ratio, LAP, VAI, AIP, and significantly decrease in high‑density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‑C) were seen among MetS when compared with non‑MetS group. LAP had a significant proportion with BMI, WC, WHtR, TG, TG/HDL‑C, VAI, and AIP, and it is inversely related to HDL‑C in the MetS group. On ROC analysis, LAP had the largest operating characteristic curves (AUC) for both gender 0.970 (0.948–0.993) for men and 0.964 (0.945–0.982) for women, followed by WC, and VAI, while BMI showed the lowest AUCs for men and women. In multiple regression analyses, AIP values increased significantly with LDL‑C, DBP, HbA1c, LAP, and VAI. Conclusion: The LAP was considerably higher in middle‑aged people with MetS in both gender and was considered the best diagnostic performance.