Lipid accumulation product or LAP as an up-to-date clinical biochemical marker of human obesity

Obesity is a grave medical and social problem causing significant hazards for human health due to frequent occurrence of grave concomitant diseases. Visceral obesity is considered to be the most hazardous. Contemporary diagnostics which allows to reveal visceral obesity both during screening examinations of people who are considered to be conditionally healthy and in patients who suffer from cardiovascular diseases is becoming a very promising trend both in primary and secondary prevention. The review focuses on an up-to-date marker used to detect visceral obesity, namely, lipid accumulation product or LAP. This index was first introduced by Kahn H.S. in 2005 and is calculated on the basis of two variables, waist circumference (cm) and fasting concentration of triglycerides (mmol/l). When a biochemical and an anthropometric parameter are applied simultaneously to calculate LAP, it allows not only to assess how fats are distributed in a body but also to reflect functional state of fat tissues...