[A community-based study on relations between metabolic syndrome and carotid atherosclerosis in a middle-aged...

To explore the association between metabolic syndromes (MS) and carotid atherosclerosis and to estimate the predictive effects of MS under 3 different definitions.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2 community-based populations in Beijing, in 2008. 1266 subjects (598 men, 668 women), aged 45 - 69, were included in the analyses. MS was defined by the criteria of International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the revised NCEP ATP III (ATPIII-R) and "The Guidelines of Dyslipidemia Control for Chinese Adult" ("Guidelines") in 2007.

The prevalence rates of MS by the 3 criteria were 39.0%, 43.3% and 30.9% respectively. The Kappa value for the measure of the agreement between each pair of the 3 definitions were 0.911, 0.719 and 0.730 respectively. The intima-media thickness in common carotid artery (CCA-IMT) was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in all MS groups than in non-MS groups, diagnosed with the 3 criteria independent of age, gender, LDL-C, and current smoking status. After adjustment of age, gender, LDL-C, and current smoking status, the classification of MS significantly increased the risk of prevalence of carotid atherosclerotic plaques, compared to the non-MS group. OR value were 1.499 (95%CI: 1.157 - 1.942) for IDF, 1.696 (95%CI: 1.314 - 2.189) for NCEP-R, 1.763 (95%CI: 1.344 - 2.312) for "Guideline" respectively.

Our research findings indicated that, when MS were defined with the 3 definitions, prediction on the risk of sub-clinical atherosclerosis would work beyond some of the conventional cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, LDL-C. There might exist some differences in gender issue on the strength of association between MS when diagnosed by different criteria and carotid plaque.