Serum Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4 Concentrations Are Positively and Independently Associated with Blood Pressure and Abdominal Fat among Parameters in Health Check-Ups in Ordinary Middle-Aged Japanese Males

We wished to examine potential associations among blood concentrations of fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) 4 and parameters in health check-ups such as abdominal fat area (AFA) and blood pressure (BP) in middle-aged Japanese males. We conducted a cross-sectional study of males who participated in health check-ups in Japan. We excluded participants diagnosed with metabolic diseases by the time of their check-up. A total of 305 subjects (30-64 [mean +/- standard deviation, 47.3 +/- 8.5] y) were recruited. Areas of total-abdominal, visceral and subcutaneous fat were measured using computed tomography. We compared the association of serum concentrations of FABP4 with various clinical parameters by Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (PPMCC) analyses, and by stepwise multivariate linear regression analyses (MLRA). PPMCC analyses showed that blood concentrations of FABP4 were positively associated with: body mass index; areas of fat (total abdominal, visceral, subcutaneous); systolic BP; diastolic BP; total cholesterol; low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol; triacylglycerol; activities of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase; white blood cell count; and levels of creatinine. Step-wise MLRA showed that AFAs (visceral and subcutaneous) and diastolic BP were positively and independently associated with serum concentrations of FABP4 among the parameters tested. These data suggest that serum concentrations of FABP4 are independently and positively associated with BP and AFA among parameters measured in health check-ups in middle-aged Japanese males.