The relationship between the metabolic syndrome and arterial wall thickness: A mosaic still to be interpreted

Angelo Scuteri, Oscar H. Franco, Henry Völzke, Min Ho Shin, Sun Seog Kweon, Ernst Rietzschel, Ligita Ryliškytė, Irina Strazhesko, Chen Huan Chen, Edward G. Lakatta, Peter M. Nilsson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background and aims We aimed to identify clusters of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components, risky for extremely high intima-media thickness. Methods We studied 41,513 volunteers (men and women) from eleven cohorts worldwide, participating in the MARE (Metabolic syndrome and Artery REsearch) Consortium. Results Specific clusters of MetS components - high triglycerides-high blood pressure-abdominal obesity (TBW), low HDL cholesterol-high blood pressure-abdominal obesity (HBW), high glucose-high blood pressure-abdominal obesity (GBW) - were accompanied by a 50–90% significantly greater likelihood of presenting extremely high intima-media thickness (via ultrasound of carotid artery, CCA IMT), after controlling for age, sex, smoking, non-HDL cholesterol, and presence of diabetes mellitus. This likelihood is comparable to the effect of being 7–8 years older or of being a cigarette smoker or of having non-HDL cholesterol 50 mg/dl higher. Conclusions The consistent association of specific clusters of MetS components with extremely thick (older) large artery cross-culturally suggests that identification of those clusters in clinical practice will facilitate a personalized health care and a better – i.e. more healthy and cost-effective - prevention of major cardiovascular (CV) events.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11-16
Number of pages6
JournalAtherosclerosis
Volume255
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016 Dec 1

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems

Free keywords

  • Arterial ageing
  • Arteries
  • Carotid intima-media thickness
  • Metabolic syndrome

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