Association of cystatin-C with metabolic syndrome in normal glucose-tolerant subjects (CURES-97).

BACKGROUND This study looked at the association of cystatin-C (cys-C) with severity of metabolic syndrome in Asian Indians. METHODS Five sets of normal glucose tolerance subjects were recruited from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES), a population-based study in southern India: 43 subjects with no metabolic risk factors, 44 subjects with one metabolic risk factor, 37 subjects with two risk factors, 40 subjects with three risk factors, and 40 subjects with four or five metabolic risk factors. Metabolic syndrome was defined using National Cholesterol Education Program criteria for adults modified for waist measured using the World Health Organization Asia Pacific guidelines. Serum cys-C was estimated by a high-sensitivity particle-enhancing nephelometry assay. RESULTS Subjects with four or five metabolic abnormalities had the highest cys-C levels, and with decreasing number of metabolic abnormalities, the cys-C levels decreased linearly (P for trend < 0.001). Regression analysis showed a linear increase in cys-C levels with increasing number of metabolic abnormalities. CONCLUSION Cys-C levels are highly correlated with the number of metabolic abnormalities in Asian Indians.