By IANS
New York : Blood tests can help detect dangerous hidden abdominal fat of people who outwardly appear lean, indicates a new study done in the US.
Some people who look healthy sometimes have hidden fat surrounding their abdominal organs. Such intra-abdominal fat is closely linked to a host of cardiovascular illnesses. It is possible, but not easy, to get a detailed picture of such abdominal fat by CT scan.
But the new research indicates that a diagnostic blood test could be developed to help individuals identify this fat, reported the online edition of the New Scientist.
Researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston recruited 196 volunteers to compare blood protein levels in people with various amounts of abdominal fat.
Sixty-six of them were classified as lean, which means they had a body-mass index (BMI) of 25 or less. The remaining 130 subjects had a BMI above 30, meaning they were clinically obese.
The participants gave blood samples and also underwent CT scans, which helped researchers calculate how much fat each of the participants had within their abdominal area and under the skin.
The researchers noticed that blood levels of a molecule called retinol-binding protein (RBP4) correlated with the amount of belly fat. Previous research has linked RBP4 to a higher risk of pre-diabetes.