Background: Metabolic syndrome is associated with higher C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels, a common biological marker of inflammation. However, the respective contribution of each component of metabolic syndrome to the inflammation has not been established. The aim of the present study was to assess the strength of the association between metabolic syndrome components and CRP in elderly subjects.
Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study on 921 volunteers (65.6 ± 0.8 years old) from the PROOF (PROgnostic indicator OF cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events) Study. Anthropometric, biological, and clinical parameters were evaluated. Subjects with a CRP value less than 10 mg/L were considered. The relationships between the metabolic syndrome components and CRP tertiles were evaluated using logistic regression analysis.
Results: After adjustment for gender and for body mass index, metabolic syndrome and high-CRP tertile were significantly associated [odds ratio (OR)=2.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.46-3.87, P<0.001]. Waist circumference demonstrated the strongest association with the high-CRP tertile (OR=1.75, 95% CI 1.05-2.91, P<0.05). In addition, CRP levels significantly increased with the number of metabolic syndrome components.
Conclusions: Among metabolic syndrome components, waist circumference showed the strongest association with the high-CRP tertile in elderly subjects. These findings help to explain the strong association between waist circumference and cardiovascular morbidity.