title: Cellular immune activity biomarker neopterin is associated hyperlipidemia: results from a large population-based study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increased serum neopterin had been described in older age two decades ago. Neopterin is a biomarker of systemic adaptive immune activation that could be potentially implicated in metabolic syndrome (MetS). Measurements of waist circumference, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin as components of MetS definition, and plasma total neopterin concentrations were performed in 594 participants recruited in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher total neopterin concentrations were associated with reduced HDLC (9.7 %, p < 0.01 for men and 9.2 %, p < 0.01 for women), whereas no association was observed with the rest of the MetS components as well as with MetS overall (per 10 nmol/L: OR = 1.42, 95 % CI = 0.85-2.39 for men and OR = 1.38, 95 % CI = 0.79-2.43).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that high total neopterin concentrations are cross-sectionally associated with reduced HDLC, but not with overall MetS.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, 35 Keyan Road, Zhunan, Miaoli County, 35053 Taiwan ; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
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authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1190-5687
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authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany.
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authors.affiliation: Inserm, Centre for research in Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP), U1018, Nutrition, Hormones and Women's Health team, F-94805 Villejuif, France ; University of Paris Sud, UMRS 1018, F-94805 Villejuif, France ; IGR, F-94805, Villejuif, France.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
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keywords: Cell-mediated immunity; Metabolic syndrome; Neopterin