Background: The ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) is a non-invasive surrogate marker of arterial stiffness; however, the relative contributions of hemodynamic, cardiometabolic, and renal factors to the AASI remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to identify the independent clinical factors associated with the AASI. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 290 individuals aged 18–65 years who underwent ABPM between 2020 and 2024. Participants were classified as hypertensive or normotensive based on ABPM criteria. Hemodynamic parameters, cardiometabolic indices, and renal biomarkers, including the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR), were assessed. Results: Associations between the AASI and clinical variables were evaluated using the following correlation analyses and hierarchical multivariable linear regression models: Model 1-1b (hemodynamic), Model 2 (hemodynamic plus cardiometabolic) and Model 3 (hemodynamic plus cardiometabolic plus renal). The AASI was significantly higher in hypertensive individuals compared with normotensive controls. In correlation analyses, the AASI was positively associated with age, systolic blood pressure parameters, atherogenic lipid indices, and uACR and negatively associated with diastolic blood pressure parameters and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). In multivariable regression analyses, age, maximum systolic blood pressure, and maximum diastolic blood pressure remained independently associated with the AASI across models. uACR was also independently associated with the AASI in the fully adjusted model. Conclusions: The AASI is primarily associated with hemodynamic load and age-related vascular changes. Among non-hemodynamic factors, albuminuria demonstrated the strongest association with the AASI after multivariable adjustment. These findings suggest the potential clinical value of the AASI as a practical marker for early cardiorenal risk assessment using routine ABPM data.

Background: Chronic low-grade inflammation contributes to early glucose dysregulation, but comparative evidence on complete blood count-derived inflammatory indices in prediabetes remains limited. This study aimed to compare the associations of five complete blood count-derived inflammatory indices with prediabetes and to assess their discriminative performance. Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 255 adults (128 with prediabetes and 127 with normoglycemia) were identified from 12,540 individuals screened at the internal medicine outpatient clinics of a university hospital. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, systemic immune-inflammation index, and systemic inflammation response index were compared between groups. Adjusted logistic regression, hierarchical regression, and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were performed. Results: All indices except the monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio were significantly higher in the prediabetes group (all p < 0.001). Among the evaluated indices, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio showed the strongest association with prediabetes, with the largest standardized odds ratio (2.691; 95% confidence interval, 1.839–3.938) and the highest explanatory power (Nagelkerke R² = 0.326). Its addition to the base model significantly improved model fit (likelihood ratio χ² = 33.62, p < 0.001), and the association remained significant after adjustment for body mass index, C-reactive protein, and lipid parameters. It also yielded the highest area under the curve (0.714). Conclusions: In this cross-sectional analysis, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio showed the most robust independent association with prediabetes among the evaluated complete blood count-derived inflammatory indices. However, the overall discriminative performance was modest, supporting the use of these indices as adjunctive rather than standalone screening markers.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether daily main meal count and snack frequency are independently associated with the Visceral adiposity index (VAI) and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) in overweight and obese adults without known chronic disease or pharmacotherapy. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 347 adults aged 18–65 years with BMI ≥25 kg/m² who presented for a first cardiological assessment. Participants with diagnosed chronic disease or regular medication use were excluded. Meal frequency was recorded by structured interview as daily main meal count and snack frequency. VAI was calculated using sex-specific formulas incorporating waist circumference, BMI, triglycerides, and HDL-cholesterol. AIP was calculated as log₁₀ (triglycerides/HDL-cholesterol), using molar concentrations. Results: The mean age of participants was 40.8 ± 11.7 years, and 53.3% were female. Participants with obesity had significantly higher AIP and VAI values than overweight participants. In unadjusted analyses, main meal count was positively correlated with AIP, whereas snack frequency was inversely correlated with both AIP and VAI. Participants reporting one snack per day had lower AIP and VAI values than those reporting no snacks. However, neither main meal count nor snack frequency remained independently associated with AIP or VAI in the multivariable models. The AIP model was adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, and regular exercise, whereas the primary VAI model was constructed without BMI because BMI is a component of the VAI formula. Higher age, male sex, BMI, and lack of regular exercise were the main independent correlates of AIP. In the primary BMI-free VAI model, higher age and lack of regular exercise were independently associated with VAI, while meal-frequency variables remained non-significant. A BMI-adjusted sensitivity model yielded the same conclusion regarding meal-frequency variables. Conclusion: In medication-free overweight and obese adults without known chronic disease, meal frequency alone was not independently associated with AIP or VAI after adjustment for demographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle-related factors. These findings suggest that simple eating-occasion counts may be less informative than overall dietary quality, meal composition, timing, and physical activity in cardiometabolic risk assessment.

Background/Objectives: Dyslipidemia is a major cardiometabolic disorder frequently accompanied by adverse fat distribution and unhealthy eating behaviors. This study aimed to compare meal pattern characteristics and anthropometric indicators between adults with newly diagnosed dyslipidemia and normolipidemic controls and to identify factors independently associated with dyslipidemia. We hypothesized that breakfast skipping would be more prevalent among individuals with dyslipidemia and that distribution-based anthropometric markers—particularly neck circumference (NC) and waist circumference (WC)—would be more strongly associated with dyslipidemia than body mass index (BMI). Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study included 257 adults without diabetes aged 18–65 years. Anthropometric assessment included BMI, WC, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and NC. Meal patterns were assessed using a structured questionnaire. Hierarchical binary logistic regression was used to identify independent associations. The linearity assumption was verified, and a sensitivity analysis was performed with HbA1c dichotomized at ≥5.7%. Results: Elevated NC was more frequent in participants with dyslipidemia (95.6% vs. 78.3%, p < 0.001). Breakfast skipping was more common among participants with dyslipidemia (30.7% vs. 15.0%, p = 0.003), whereas lunch skipping was less common (52.6% vs. 65.8%, p = 0.031). In the fully adjusted model, elevated NC (OR: 4.72), breakfast skipping (OR: 3.39), and HbA1c (OR: 3.61) were independently associated with dyslipidemia. These findings were confirmed in sensitivity analysis. Conclusions: Breakfast skipping and elevated NC were independently associated with newly diagnosed dyslipidemia, partially supporting the study hypothesis. Breakfast skipping and NC may aid in early risk identification in outpatient settings. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these associations.