Higher platelet counts are associated with metabolic syndrome independent of fatty liver diagnosis.
BACKGROUND
Platelet count (PC) and fatty liver are both associated with metabolic syndrome (MS), obesity, and type 2 diabetes. While PC increases in obesity and type 2 diabetes, the severity of hepatic fibrosis caused by fatty liver reduces PC. We aimed to investigate the correlation of PC and MS in patients with and without fatty liver.


METHODS
We enrolled consecutive patients who received health check-ups at Taipei Veterans General Hospital from 2002 to 2009. Ultrasonography was used to diagnose fatty liver, and MS was diagnosed according to the criteria defined by the International Diabetes Federation Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention.


RESULTS
Among the 29,797 patients, MS was present in 28.74%. Higher PC was correlated with MS using multivariate analysis, while fatty liver had the strongest association with MS. After dividing the patients by the presence or absence of fatty liver, higher PC was still associated with MS in both groups. The patients were further stratified by age and gender, and MS was correlated with PC among all age groups in women and in men under 60 years of age; however, the association between PC and MS did not reach statistical difference in men older than 60 years.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a significant correlation between PC and MS, and the correlation exists independent of gender, age, and fatty liver. PC may act as a surrogate marker for MS, and physicians should be concerned with the presence of MS among patients with high PC.
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Kuan-Chieh
KC
Fang
Taipei Municipal Gan-Dau Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Yuan-Lung
YL
Cheng
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Chien-Wei
CW
Su
Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Healthcare Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Yuan-Jen
YJ
Wang
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Department and Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Keng-Hsin
KH
Lan
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Department and Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Teh-Ia
TI
Huo
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Yi-Hsiang
YH
Huang
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: cjchu@vghtpe.gov.tw.
Chi-Jen
CJ
Chu
Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Healthcare Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Chung-Chi
CC
Lin
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Healthcare Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Ming-Chih
MC
Hou
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Han-Chieh
HC
Lin
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Fa-Yauh
FY
Lee
Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Division of Translational Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Jaw-Ching
JC
Wu
Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Shou-Dong
SD
Lee
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count
D015415:Biomarkers
body mass index; fatty liver disease; metabolic syndrome; platelet count; sonography