title: Elevated serum triglycerides is the strongest single indicator for the presence of metabolic syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with diabetes already fulfill one diagnostic criterion for MS according to the existing classifications. Our aim was to identify one single clinical parameter, which could effectively predict the presence of MS in patients with type 2 diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied all patients with type 2 diabetes who attended our Diabetes Outpatient Clinic during a three-month period. Waist circumference, blood pressure and serum lipids were measured. Establishment of MS diagnosis was based a) on National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) criteria and b) on International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was applied in order to identify the clinical parameter with the highest predictive capability for MS. Among the 500 participating patients (231 males, 269 females), MS was diagnosed in 364 patients (72.8%) according to the NCEP ATP III criteria and in 408 patients (81.6%) according to the IDF criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the NCEP ATP III classification, serum triglycerides (in the overall population), waist and HDL (in female population) demonstrated the highest predictive capability for MS (AUCs:0.786, 0.805 and 0.801, respectively). For the IDF classification, no single parameter reached an AUC > 0.800 in the overall population. In females, HDL displayed a satisfactory predictive capability for MS with an AUC which was significantly higher than the one in males (0.785 vs. 0.676, respectively, p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated serum triglycerides strongly indicate the presence of MS in patients with type 2 diabetes. In female patients with type 2 diabetes, central obesity was the second stronger predictor of MS besides hypertriglyceridemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice/Family Medicine, Health Centre of Vyronas, Athens, Greece. info@hcvyrona.gr
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kompoti
authors.forename: Anargiros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mariolis
authors.forename: Alevizos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alevizos
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kyrazis
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Protopsaltis
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dimou
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lentzas
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levisianou
authors.forename: Afroditi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gova
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melidonis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides