Korean J Geriatr Gerontol.  2015 Jun;16(1):24-29. 10.15656/kjcg.2015.16.1.24.

Relationship between Metabolic Syndrome and White Blood Cell Count

• Choi HY
• Seo JY
• Cho YJ
• Oh JE
• Hong SH
• Cho CY

• KMID: 2566508
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.15656/kjcg.2015.16.1.24

Abstract

Background
White blood cell (WBC) counts have been associated with inflammatory condition. Recently, several studies have shown that increased WBC counts have been associated with different components of metabolic syndrome (MS). Therefore, this study was attempted to illustrate the relationship between WBC counts and the MS in Korean.
Methods
Among the subjects who visited a health promotion center of an University hospital from February 2010 to February 2011, a total of 6,465 adults were examined. Among them, we excluded those who did not have records of blood test results and questionnaire, acute ill patients, finally 6,459 adults were examined. The MS was defined according to both NCEP ATP III and WHO Asia-Western Pacific criteria. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between WBC counts and the MS with an adjustment for age and smoking.
Results
In the highest quartile of WBC, the odds ratio for MS was 3.63, which showed approximately a three fold increase compared to the lowest quartile. The relative risks for the presence of ≥1, ≥2, ≥3, ≥4 features of the MS also increased as WBC counts increased.
Conclusion
WBC counts are associated with the different components and cluster of MS. Thus, WBC counts may also be another feature of MS.

Keyword

White blood cell counts; Metabolic syndrome; Clustering