Background: Shared genetic factors may contribute to the phenotypic clustering of different components of the metabolic syndrome (MES). This study aims to identify genetic loci that contribute to individual or multiple factors related to MES.
Results: We studied 478 normoglycemic subjects ascertained through 163 families participating in the Hong Kong Family Diabetes Study. Factor analysis on 15 MES-related traits yielded 6 factors including adiposity factor (body mass index, waist and hip circumferences), insulin factor (fasting insulin and insulin AUC during OGTT), glucose factor (fasting glucose and glucose AUC during OGTT), TC-LDLC factor (total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol), blood pressure factor (systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and TG-HDLC factor (triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol). Genome-wide linkage analyses were performed on these factors using variance component approach. Suggestive evidence for linkage (LOD = 1.24 - 2.46) were observed for adiposity factor (chromosome 1 at 187 cM, chromosome 9 at 34 cM and chromosome 17 at 10 cM), insulin factor (chromosome 2 at 128 cM, chromosome 5 at 21 cM and chromosome 12 at 7 cM), glucose factor (chromosome 7 at 155 cM), TC-LDLC factor (chromosome 7 at 151 cM and chromosome 13 at 15 cM) and TG-HDLC factor (chromosome 7 at 155 cM).
Conclusions: In summary, our findings suggest the presence of susceptibility loci that influence either single (chromosomes 1, 2, 5, 9, 12, 13 and 17) or multiple factors (chromosome 7) for MES in Hong Kong Chinese without diabetes.