Association between metabolic syndrome and carotid atherosclerosis in individuals without diabetes based on the oral glucose tolerance test.
BACKGROUND
Whether or not metabolic syndrome is predictive of atherosclerotic disorders may depend on the population studied. We investigated whether metabolic syndrome is associated with carotid atherosclerosis in individuals who were shown not to have diabetes mellitus based on results of the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).


RESULTS
Between 1994 and 2003, 3904 individuals underwent general health screening that included the OGTT. Among these 3904 individuals, 3679 had a fasting plasma glucose of <126 mg/dL (subgroup 1), and 3488 had a 2-h post-OGTT glucose value of <200mg/dL (subgroup 2). In both subgroups, metabolic syndrome was found to be a risk factor for carotid plaque and for carotid intima-media thickening in men, and tended to be a risk factor for carotid plaque in women after adjustment for age. Among 3473 individuals who had both a fasting plasma glucose value of <126 mg/dL and a 2-h post-OGTT glucose of <200mg/dL, 2440 did not have hypertension, which was defined as systolic and diastolic blood pressure of <140/90 mmHg and absence of use of anti-hypertensive medication. In these non-diabetic non-hypertensive individuals, the association between metabolic syndrome and carotid plaque or carotid intima-media thickening was not statistically significant even with adjustment only for age.


CONCLUSIONS
In men who did not have impaired fasting glycemia and/or in those without impaired glucose tolerance, metabolic syndrome was a predictor of carotid atherosclerosis after age adjustment, although metabolic syndrome was not found to be a predictor of carotid atherosclerosis when hypertensive individuals were excluded from the study population.
Ishizaka
Nobukazu
N
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine, Hongo 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. nobuishizka-tky@umin.ac.jp
Ishizaka
Yuko
Y
Yamakado
Minoru
M
Toda
Eiichi
E
Koike
Kazuhiko
K
Nagai
Ryozo
R
D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors
D001786:Blood Glucose