General Lack of Correlations between Age and Signs of the Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects with Non-diabetic Fasting Glucose Values.

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance and advancing age are well-recognized risk factors for metabolic syndrome. Recent reports indicate that fasting glucose levels in non-diabetic patients correlate appropriately with the development of certain elements in metabolic syndrome, which suggest a cause-effect relationship with insulin resistance.

OBJECTIVE: The present investigation assessed whether a significant association exists between chronological age and various elements of metabolic syndrome in this same group of subjects possessing non-diabetic fasting glucose levels.

METHODS: Baseline data were taken from 288 subjects (age 17-87 years) with fasting glucose levels ≤ 125 mg/dl. Correlations between chronological age and different metabolic parameters were assessed to determine any statistically significant relationships and compare these with previously demonstrated metabolic parameters.

RESULTS: With the exception of systolic blood pressure, the following correlations between age and components of metabolic syndrome were not significant or even significant in the opposite direction compared to those found in the same population using fasting glucose as the independent variable: body weight, body fat, diastolic blood pressure, white blood cell count (WBC)/neutrophil count, and circulating levels of insulin, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Although systolic blood pressure still increased, it was to a lesser extent than might be expected.

CONCLUSIONS: In the present investigation, a cross-sectional analysis was carried out over a wide age range of subjects. It is noteworthy that fasting glucose levels and the other major elements of metabolic syndrome did not change significantly with advancing age. These results demonstrate that decreasing insulin resistance and fasting glucose levels may be an important way to overcome the adverse effects and perturbations of advancing age-induced consequences of metabolic syndrome.