The study aimed at assessing the relationship between five components of the NCEP ATP III-defined metabolic syndrome (MS) in diabetes and non-diabetes MS subjects.
Methods: Prevalence of MS and its components was assessed in 1586 adult Caucasian individuals, without known diabetes. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with 75 g glucose according to WHO protocol was conducted in all subjects.
Results: MS was diagnosed in 419 persons (prevalence 26.4%), including 123 subjects with newly diagnosed diabetes. Diabetes subjects presented with higher plasma triglycerides and slightly more pronounced abdominal obesity as well as higher fasting plasma insulin, which in all reflected insulin resistance-related character of MS pathophysiology. However, the distribution of MS components was largely uneven in diabetes and non-diabetes subjects. Elevated plasma triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol were the most prevalent components. The least often found component was elevated fasting plasma glucose (FPG). Non-diabetes subjects with elevated FPG were more likely to present with three or four other components than with two of them only. In contrast, those with high plasma triglycerides, low plasma HDL cholesterol or increased waist circumference were all more likely to have two rather than three or four other MS components. Subjects with diabetes presented significantly more often with four or five MS components when compared with non-diabetes subjects.
Conclusions: The components of metabolic syndrome are not equally prevalent in Caucasian population. Lipid disorders are most often found and glucose intolerance is the least prevalent MS component. Glucose intolerance and diabetes occurred in a more complex setting, concomitantly with three or four other MS components, suggesting that diabetes is associated with more advanced stages of MS. These findings may have important implications for MS prevention and treatment.