Effect of metabolic syndrome components and their clustering on carotid atherosclerosis in a sample of the general Japanese population

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of metabolic syndrome (MS) on carotid atherosclerosis in a Japanese population. A total of 1727 subjects (805 males and 922 females) were included. Intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured using ultrasonography. To evaluate the independent determinants of IMT, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was employed that included age, current smoking habit, LDL-C, HbA 1c and the MS components (SBP, DBP, TG, HDL-C, FBG, and WC) as independent variables. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to determine the independent associations of the MS components with IMT. In males, age ( β =0.383, P <0.001), SBP ( β =0.237, P <0.001), LDL-C ( β =0.188, P <0.001), current smoking habit ( β =0.124, P =0.007) and HbA 1c ( β =0.110, P =0.014) were significantly associated with IMT. In females, age ( β =0.474, P <0.001), SBP ( β =0.130, P =0.003) and FBG ( β =0.110, P =0.038) were significantly associated with IMT. The present study demonstrated that an elevated number of MS components, with or without central obesity, is associated with higher IMT. Among the analyzed components, hypertension has the strongest association with higher IMT.