Body composition and pulmonary function in obese type 2 diabetic women

Most patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are overweight and their fat-distribution pattern shows more truncal and less peripheral subcutaneous fat. Obesity also influences the respiratory system by mechanical effects on the diaphragm and chest wall depending on the distribution and size of excess adipose tissues. To determine if the impairment of pulmonary function in T2DM is associated with truncal fat distribution, we performed dynamic spirometric tests and body composition analysis, by dual X-ray absorptiometry, in 12 non-smoker mildly obese T2DM women and in an equal number of control normoglycaemic females, matched for age, body mass index and smoking habits. The forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in one second for T2DM women (2.67 +/- 0.30 and 2.15 +/- 0.20 1, respectively) were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than for control women (3.22 +/- 0.30 and 2.58 +/- 0.31 1, respectively). However, trunk fat mass and trunk lean body mass for T2DM women (16.68 +/- 2.31 and 20.87 +/- 1.91 kg, respectively) were comparable with those for controls (16.46 +/- 2.54 and 19.65 +/- 3.42 kg, respectively). Thus, we deduce that pulmonary function impairment in T2DM obese women is not associated with truncal fat mass deposition or with lean mass depletion.