Association between lipid accumulation product and bowel habits and inflammatory bowel disease: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between bowel disorders and the Lipid Accumulation Product (LAP), a novel marker of visceral adiposity and metabolic dysfunction calculated from waist circumference and fasting triglycerides, in a sample of 13,030 U.S. adults from the 2005–2010 NHANES. We investigated relationships between LAP (log-transformed as Ln-LAP) and chronic diarrhea, constipation, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors. Results showed Ln-LAP was significantly associated with chronic diarrhea (odds ratio [OR] = 1.19, 95%CI:1.09–1.30) but not IBD (OR = 0.87, 95%CI:0.61–1.23). A nonlinear relationship emerged for chronic constipation with threshold effect at Ln-LAP = 4.27. Subgroup analyses revealed age significantly modified the LAP-diarrhea association (P < 0.05), showing stronger effects in participants <60 years. Gender significantly influenced the LAP-IBD relationship (P = 0.010). These findings suggest elevated LAP levels linearly increase diarrhea risk while demonstrating a U-shaped association with constipation, indicating optimal visceral fat levels may help prevent both bowel conditions. The study provides new evidence linking metabolic dysregulation with gastrointestinal dysfunction, highlighting age and gender as important modifiers of these relationships. As NHANES data are nationally representative, these results may generalize to the U.S. adult population, though longitudinal studies are needed to establish causality. The findings support monitoring visceral adiposity as part of gastrointestinal health management strategies.