Endocrinol Metab.  2019 Dec;34(4):390-397. 10.3803/EnM.2019.34.4.390.

Association between Serum Gamma-Glutamyltransferase and Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome Using Data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study

• Lee MY
• Hyon DS
• Huh JH
• Kim HK
• Han SK
• Kim JY
• Koh SB

• KMID: 2466258
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3803/EnM.2019.34.4.390

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a positive correlation between gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and whether GGT can be used as an easily checkable metabolic index using data from the large-scale Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES).
METHODS
We obtained data of 211,725 participants of the KoGES. The collected data included age, sex, height, weight, waist circumference, and various biochemical characteristics, including serum GGT levels. The data of study participants who ingested more than 40 g/day of alcohol and who were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome at baseline was excluded. We analyzed the prevalence of metabolic syndrome according to GGT quartiles in both genders.
RESULTS
The GGT level was significantly higher in subjects with metabolic syndrome compared to normal subjects (37.92±48.20 mg/dL vs. 25.62±33.56 mg/dL). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome showed a stepwise increase with GGT quartiles in both male and female subjects. Compared to the lowest GGT quartile, the odds ratio was 1.534 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.432 to 1.643), 1.939 (95% CI, 1.811 to 2.076), and 2.754 (95% CI, 2.572 to 2.948) in men and 1.155 (95% CI, 1.094 to 1.218), 1.528 (95% CI, 1.451 to 1.609), and 2.022 (95% CI, 1.921 to 2.218) in women with increasing GGT quartile. The cutoff value of GGT predicting risk of metabolic syndrome was 27 IU/L in men and 17 IU/L in women.
CONCLUSION
We suggested that GGT could be an easily checkable marker for the prediction of metabolic syndrome.

Keyword

Gamma-glutamyltransferase; Metabolic syndrome; Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study

MeSH Terms

Epidemiology*
Female
gamma-Glutamyltransferase*
Genome*
Humans
Male
Odds Ratio
Prevalence*
Waist Circumference
gamma-Glutamyltransferase

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Study population. KoGES, Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study.

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  Fig. 2 The cutoff value of gamma-glutamyltransferase predicting the risk of metabolic syndrome. (A) Men. (B) Women. AUC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.

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