PLASMA-FIBRINOGEN - A NEW FACTOR OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME - A POPULATION-BASED STUDY

OBJECTIVE- To evaluate whether hyperfibrinogenemia represents a compon ent of the metabolic syndrome. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS- A cross-se ctional study was conducted on the relation between fibrinogen and the metabolic syndrome in a working population of 1,252 nondiabetic men, aged 35-64 years, randomly selected among all men participating in a h ealth screening. We measured anthropometric characteristics, blood pre ssure, fasting plasma fibrinogen, cholesterol (total, LDL, and HDL), t riglycerides, glucose, and insulin. Individuals with two or more metab olic abnormalities (defined as being in the highest quartile of the di stribution of diastolic blood pressure, plasma glucose, or triglycerid es or being in the lowest quartile of HDL cholesterol) were considered to have the metabolic syndrome. RESULTS- Age-adjusted fibrinogen leve ls correlated significantly with BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, plasma total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and HDL cholesterol (inversely). Subjects with the metabolic syndrome had significantly higher plasma fibrinogen lev els than those without (285.1 +/- 1.9 vs. 300.2 +/- 3.0 mg/dl, mean +/ - SE, P = 0.0001). Plasma fibrinogen concentrations and the prevalence of hyperfibrinogenemia (defined as greater than or equal to 350 mg/dl ) increased progressively from 279 to 307 mg/dl ( = 0.0001) and from 9 to 22% (P = 0.0024), respectively, across categories with an increasi ng number of metabolic disorders characterizing the syndrome (only one , any two, three or more). In multivariate analyses, both plasma insul in and the metabolic syndrome were significantly and independently ass ociated with plasma fibrinogen. CONCLUSIONS- The finding suggests that hyperfibrinogenemia may be considered a component of the metabolic sy ndrome. This may also explain the increased cardiovascular risk associ ated with hyperinsulinemia/insulin resistance.