Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) is a low-density lipoprotein like particle which has proatherogenic and a prothrombotic properties. Therefore, increased Lp(a) levels have been reported to be associated with a higher cardiovascular risk in numerous studies. However, the association between Lp(a) and metabolic disorders such as diabetes or metabolic syndrome (MetS) is still controversial. This study aimed to examine the association between Lp(a) levels and presence of MetS in a large cohort.

Methods: A total of 10,150 Korean participants (men: 60.5%, mean 51.6 years) who underwent the health checkup in 2006–2013 were included in this cross-sectional study. MetS was defined using a revised National Cholesterol Education Program definition, which adopted an Asian-specific waist circumference threshold suggested by the International Diabetes Foundation. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the significance of the association between baseline Lp(a) levels and presence of MetS.

Results: The overall prevalence of MetS was 7.1% and the proportion of the participants with MetS decreased across the Lp(a) quartiles (P for trend <0.001). In a multivariate model, the highest quartile of Lp(a) levels (>37.0 mg/dl) was significantly associated with a reduced risk of MetS (odds ratio (OR) 0.63, 95% CI: 0.49–0.80; P for trend <0.001) compared with the lowest quartile (<12.2 mg/dl). When we analyzed log-transformed Lp(a) level as continuous variables, elevated Lp(a) level was also associated with a lower MetS risk. Serum Lp(a) levels inversely correlated with waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin, index of insulin resistance, and the number of MetS components, while it correlated positively with C-reactive protein.

Conclusions: Serum Lp(a) level showed a significant inverse correlation with MetS prevalence and individual components of MetS.