Metabolic syndrome across Europe: Different clusters of risk factors

Methods: In accordance with the ATP III criteria, MetS was defined as an alteration three or more of the following five components: elevated glucose (G), fasting glucose >= 110 mg/dl; low HDL cholesterol, <40mg/dl for men or <50 mg/dl for women; high triglycerides (T), >= 150 mg/dl; elevated blood pressure (B), >= 130/ >= 85 mmHg; abdominal obesity (W), waist circumference >102 cm for men or >88 cm for women.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains a controversial entity. Specific clusters of MetS components - rather than MetS per se - are associated with accelerated arterial ageing and with cardiovascular (CV) events. To investigate whether the distribution of clusters of MetS components differed cross-culturally, we studied 34,821 subjects from 12 cohorts from 10 European countries and one cohort from the USA in the MARE (Metabolic syndrome and Arteries REsearch) Consortium.