Elevated serum levels of pro-inflammatory markers are associated with glucose intolerance in metabolic syndrome patients from Jordan

Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is tightly associated with cardiovascular atherosclerosis development and diabetes. However, the association between these markers and glucose intolerance and other clinical parameters in Jordanian MetS patient is not clear. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential association of atherosclerotic/metabolic inflammatory markers in Jordanian MetS patients with their glucose tolerance and other clinical parameters. Methods: A total of 190 MetS obese or overweight subjects (men = 61, women = 129) were enrolled. ELISA assays of plasma hs-CRP, MCP-1, PAI-1, MMP-9, resistin, adiponectin, leptin, MIF, TNF-α, TSP-1, IL-10, and IL-6 were performed. Results: It was found that hs-CRP and TNF-α were significantly and positively correlated with HbA1c (r=0.274; and 0.406; p<0.0001)and FPG (r=0.272; p<0.0001 and r= 0.163; p<0.05) , while IL- 10 was negatively correlated with HbA1c (r=-0.264; p<0.001). MIF positively correlated with FPG (r=0.207; p<0.001), and along with TSP-1(r=0.580; p<0.0001), it was linked positively to insulin resistance as measured by HOMA-IR (r=0.252; p<0.001). Conclusions: This study showed that most of proinflammatory markers have direct association with indicators of glucose tolerance parameters, namely, FPG and HbA1c. Therefore, these markers can be used as indicators for glucose intolerance and disease progression in patients with metabolic syndrome.