Association of Chronic Subclinical Inflammation with Metabolic Syndrome and Target Organ Damage

Objective To investigate the association of inflammatory markers high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hsCRP),soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1(sICAM-1),fibrinogen(Fg),white blood cell count(WBC) with metabolic syndrome(MS) and its target organ damage.Methods One hundred and sixty subjects were enrolled,including 130 in-patients and 30 regular physical examinees.Baseline clinical measures were determined.Blood biochemical indexes and the blood levels of hsCRP,sICAM-1,Fg,WBC were also measured respectively.Urinary albumin to creatinine ratio(ACR) was calculated on the basis of the first morning urine sample,the carotid arteries intimal-media thickness(IMT) was detected by two dimensional echocardiography and left ventricular mass was evaluated by M-B mode echocardiography in all subjects.Results The hsCRP,sICAM-1 and Fg in patients with MS(n=66) were higher than that in subjects without MS(n=94).Inflammatory markers were associated with components of MS and its target organ damage.Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that elevated hsCRP level was an independent risk factor for MS and its target organ damage.Subjects with hsCRP≥3 mg/L had a relative risk of developing MS 2.26 times than those with hsCRP1 mg/L(P0.01).The incidence rate of target organ damage in MS increased with elevated levels of inflammatory markers.Conclusion The levels of inflammatory markers in patients with MS were higher than that in subjects without MS.