Metabolic syndrome does not always play a critical role in decreased GFR

There is a paucity of literature available as to the relationship between different levels of each metabolic syndrome (MetS) component and decreased GFR. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate whether MetS always plays a critical role in decreased GFR.

A cross-sectional study was conducted between February 2010 and September 2012, with 75,468 adults enrolled undergoing measurements of blood pressure as well as tests of blood and urine samples. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), and the chi-square test was used for categorical variables and described as a percentage.

Of the 75,468 participants, 350 (0.5%) subjects met criteria for the decreased GFR, with a mean age of 48.79 ± 13.76 years. After adjustment for age, diastolic blood pressure and high-density lipoprotein were inversely related to decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in multivariable analyses, with an OR (95% CI) of 0.57 (0.39-0.84) and 0.41 (0.24-0.72), respectively. The prevalence rate of CKD in critical group was 0.73% (154 of 21,127) and 0% (0 of 370) in noncritical group. In analysis stratified by the type of MetS components, the differences in noncritical group and the reference group were not statistically significant (χ(2 )=( )1.349, p > 0.05).

MetS does not always play a critical role in decreased GFR, with different levels of individual components of MetS exerting idiosyncratic effects in decreased eGFR. In fact, patients with abnormal body mass index, high triglycerides, and elevated fasting plasma glucose would not have impact on decreased GFR.