Aim: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities and a predictor of both type 2 diabetes mellitus and adverse cardiovascular events. Whether there are gender differences in the association between early atherosclerosis and MetS has not yet been thoroughly elucidated.
Methods: The subjects consisted of 388 men aged 64±16 years and 480 women aged 70±13 years. Early atherosclerosis was assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) on B-mode ultrasonography.
Results: Carotid IMT values were significantly greater in both male (p=0.007) and female (p=0.002) subjects with MetS. After adjusting for established risk factors, the difference persisted on a significant level in women (p=0.003), but was weak in men (p=0.013). Multiple regression analysis using IMT as an objective variable, with adjustment for various risk factors as explanatory variables, showed that MetS (p=0.016) was a significant independent contributing factor along with known risk factors only in women. Among the components of MetS, hypertension (p=0.036) and dyslipidemia (p=0.008) had a strong impact on carotid IMT in men, whereas hypertension (p=0.003) ranked first in women.
Conclusion: The effect of MetS in early carotid atherosclerosis is more pronounced in women than in men, and the impact of MetS components on carotid IMT differs between men and women.