Table 1 Metabolic characteristics of the studied groups

Age (years)

51.7 ± 9

54.2 ± 8*

54.9 ± 9

Gender (male)

499 (51.8%)

102 (56%)

29 (63%)*

BMI (kg/m²)

28.2 ± 4

30.2 ± 4*

30.4 ± 5*

Alcohol consumption (>30 gr/day)

18 (1.7%)

3 (1.7%)

2 (4.3%)

Hypertension (%)

209 (20)

55 (30)*

12 (26)

LDL-C (mmol/l)

3.08 ± 0.8

3.21 ± 0.9

3.10 ± 0.8

HDL-C (mmol/l)

1.16 (0.96–1.40)

1.05 (0.88–1.24)*

1.04 (0.85–1.16)*

Triglycerides (mmol/l)

1.60 (1.21–2.18)

2.01 (1.45–2.73)*

2.29 (1.67–3.13)*

Fasting glucose (mmol/l)

4.89 (4.6–5.2)

5.77 (5.7–6.1)*

8.49 (7.7–12.2)*^†

HOMA-IR

3.4 (2.49–4.89)

6.16 (4.6–8.1)*

8.98 (6.4–12)*^†

hsCRP (nmol/l)

14.0 (7.52–28.6)

21.8 (9.5–38.0)*

21.8 (10.5–36.2)*

Adipo-IR (mmol/l·μU/l)

8.8 (5.7–13.1)

13.3 (9.2–20)*

12.3 (8.9–17.9)*^†

Free fatty acids (mmol/l)

0.55 (0.43–0.69)

0.57 (0.43–0.69)

0.59 (0.52–0.76)*

Adiponectin (µg/ml)^a

8.3 (5.1–13)

6.7 (3.9-10–2)*

6.4 (2.8–9.2)*

Subcutaneous adipose tissue (cm²)

282 (212–360)

307 (250–384)*

297 (2–405)^†

Total adipose tissue (cm²)

428 (3–531)

491 (424–587)*

502 (403–607)*

Visceral adipose tissue (cm²)

143 (105–184)

176 (139–229)*

177 (139–229)*

Liver to spleen attenuation ratio

1.12 (0.96–1.22)

0.96 (0.75–1.11)*

0.89 (0.68–1.01)*