Association between the intima-media thickness of the extracranial carotid arteries and metabolic syndrome in ethnic Kyrgyzs

BACKGROUND: It is known that atherosclerosis is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to study the correlation between components of metabolic syndrome (MS) and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis in a group of ethnic Kyrgyzs. METHODS: In а descriptive study we assessed 144 ethnic Kyrgyzs (69 males, 75 females) aged 36–73 years (average age 51.03 ± 8.2). All participants underwent a clinical investigation and an anthropometric evaluation (weight, height, waist circumference (WC)). Abdominal obesity (АО) was confirmed at WC ≥ 94 cm in males and ≥ 88 cm in females. Fasting plasma glucose and lipid spectrum tests were performed. An ultrasound assessment of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was performed using a 7.5 MHz transducer (Phillips-SD 800). RESULTS: MS was revealed in 61 (42.4%; 47.8% in men and 37.3% in women) of the investigated patients. IMT was significantly increased with the presence of MS components in males (no components vs 2 components of MS: 0.67 ± 0.007 and 0.81 ± 0.009 respectively; р < 0.05) and females (no components vs 3 components of MS: 0.63 ± 0.007 and 0.76 ± 0.01 respectively; р < 0.01). IMT trended towards an increase in the presence of a greater number of MS components in patients with and without AO (р < 0.01). In order to identify independent factors affecting IMT we carried out a multifactorial logistic regression analysis. Arterial hypertension was found to have the greatest influence on the development of MS (OR = 3.81, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: In the group of ethnic Kyrgyzs, a greater number of MS components, with AO or without AO, is associated with higher carotid IMT.