Clinical and Biochemical Markers of Cardiovascular Structure and Function in Women With the Metabolic Syndrome

The pathobiological impact of individual components of the metabolic syndrome (MS) on cardiac structural and functional parameters in women with isolated MS is not known. The objectives of this study were (1) to compare biochemical (prothrombotic, lipogenic, and inflammatory) and imaging (carotid intima-media thickening and basic cardiac structural measurements) markers in women with and without MS and (2) to examine if any of these markers associated or predicted cardiac structural differences between the 2 groups. This cross-sectional pilot study included 88 women with MS and 35 women without it. MS was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Patients with diagnosis of diabetes were excluded. Compared with healthy subjects, women with MS had higher levels of intercellular adhesion molecule, myeloperoxidase, C-reactive protein, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, leptin, apolipoprotein-B, and lower levels of apolipoprotein-A1 (p