Traditional indicators of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk may not be appropriate for Asian Indians. We designed a cross-sectional study of body fat distribution, apoB/apoA1 ratio and adipokines of Northern Indians compared to Caucasians to determine if there is a different relationship between these parameters. Indian (men: n = 54; women n = 28) and Caucasian (men: n= 32; women, n = 51) subjects were recruited who were between the ages of 20 and 60 years. Subjects were excluded if they had a history of CVD or were taking lipid lowering medications. Body fat percentage (BF%) was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Indian subjects had a substantially higher waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) ratio than Caucasian subjects (men: 0.93 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.86 +/- 0.01, p < 0.001; women: 0.88 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.76 +/- 0.01, p < 0.0001). Interestingly, while WHR correlated strongly with BF% in Caucasians (men: r = 0.63 p = 0.0002; women: r = 0.74, p < 0.0001, respectively) there was no correlation in Indians (men: r = 0.22, ns; women: r = 0.23, ns). The regression lines for WHR vs. BF% of Indians compared to Caucasians was significantly different (men p = 0.02, women p = 0.002). A similar pattern of correlation was seen with WHR and BMI. In addition, Indian men and women had a higher apoB/A1 ratio than Caucasians: the most powerful lipoprotein measure of CVD risk (men: 0.84+/-0.04 vs. 0.66+/-0.04, p=0.001; women: 0.70+/-0.04 vs. 0.56+/-0.03, p = 0.003, respectively). Leptin levels were higher and adiponectin levels in lower in the Indian men and women. Hypothetically, these alterations in body composition, apoB/apoA1 and adipokines could be due to alterations in adipocyte number.

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