The metabolic syndrome, anthropometry and microalbumin

The aging of elastic and muscular arteries: a comparison of diabetic and nondiabetic subjects. Molecular mechanisms responsible for the antiinflammatory and protective effect of HDL on the endothelium.infected patients treated with protease inhibitor-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy. A conceptual model of HIV/ AIDS stigma from five African countries. Disclosure of HIV status: experiences and perceptions of persons living with HIV/AIDS and nurses involved in their care in Africa. the metabolic syndrome, anthropometry and microalbumin Dear Sir I read the recent article on the metabolic syndrome, anthro-pometry and microalubmin with great interest. 1 Hoebel et al. concluded that 'vascular BP, TG and WC were associated with risk of renal impairment in males, while in females, NC and WC were associated with this risk'. 1 I have some comments on this article. First, the authors should have discussed whether the observed association was by chance or not. Indeed, although BMI might relate to other medical disorders grouped under the metabolic syndrome, there is no direct biophysiological process that links anthropometry and microalbuminuria. 2 Second, the question of quality control in the laboratories used for the assays presented in this article should be questioned, since there are many factors that could affect the measurement of blood glucose, lipids and microalbumin. Many other confounding factors such as occult medical disorders could also have affected the laboratory results presented in this report. References 1. Hoebel S, De Ridder JH, Malan L. The association between anthro-pometric parameters, the metabolic syndrome and microalbuminuria in black Africans: the SABPA study. and metabolic variables associated with microalbumin and C-reactive protein as markers of early glomerular dysfunction among Mauritian patients suffering from type II diabetes.