Abstract
AIM: Serum syndecan-1 (SDC-1) concentration is a biomarker for endothelial glycocalyx (EG) degradation, which is elevated in type 2 diabetes (T2D). EG degradation is an early step in vascular endothelial dysfunction. This study investigated the association between serum SDC-1 concentration and visceral fat accumulation, which is closely related to vascular endothelial dysfunction, in people with and without T2D. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with two independent groups, one including 219 individuals without diabetes (ND) and the other including 203 individuals with T2D. Visceral fat accumulation was assessed as the visceral fat area (VFA) using computed tomography (CT) in ND or dual bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in T2D. Multivariate analyses were performed for ND and T2D to assess the association between VFA and serum SDC-1 concentrations. RESULTS: The medians of serum SDC-1 concentration were 16.0 ng/mL and 26.5 ng/mL in ND and T2D, respectively. In the univariate analysis, both CT-VFA in the ND group and BIA-VFA in the T2D group were positively correlated with serum SDC-1 concentration. Moreover, the association between VFAs and serum SDC-1 concentration was independent of other covariates in multivariate analysis for each group. However, neither the body mass index nor subcutaneous fat area were associated with serum SDC-1 concentrations in either group. CONCLUSIONS: CT-VFA and BIA-VFA were independently associated with serum SDC-1 concentrations. Our findings suggest that visceral fat accumulation is involved in the degradation of EG irrespective of the presence of T2D.