Longitudinal Study on White Blood Cell Count and the Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Objective Many studies have revealed that white blood cell count (WBC) is related to insulin resistance which is a central mechanism of metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, few cohort studies have examined the role of WBC in the development of MetS. We hypothesized that WBC is associated with the future development of MetS, and investigated the longitudinal incidence of MetS in healthy workers. Methods WBC was measured in 5,073 workers (mean age 42.5 years) without MetS at baseline. The incidence of MetS was monitored over 7 years of follow-up, in relation to quartiles of WBC. During the followup, 925 participants were diagnosed as MetS. Results Incidence of MetS was increased in participants with higher WBC: the rates of incidence of MetS were 22.6, 32.9, 42.9, and 57.5 per 1,000 person-years of follow-up in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartiles of WBC, respectively. After adjustments for confounding factors, the adjusted hazards ratio (95% confidence interval) for MetS was 1.00 (reference), 1.22 (0.98 to 1.51), 1.52 (1.24 to 1.87), and 1.66 (1.35 to 2.04) through the quartiles of WBC, respectively, (p <0.001). This relationship was consistent among current smokers and never smokers, and among male and female genders, respectively. Conclusion WBC is useful in predicting the future development of MetS which leads to atherosclerotic diseases.

Using white blood cell counts to predict metabolic syndrome in the elderly: A combined cross-sectional and longitudinal study

“…Although the association between MetS and WBC has been described previously, [26,[30][31][32][33][34] only few studies were longitudinal design. Recently, Odagiri et al completed a cohort study with the data base in Japan [28]. They enrolled 5,073 workers with the mean age of 42.5 years and followed up for 7 years.…”

“…Although there are several reports aimed at the association between WBC and MetS are done, most of them are cross-sectional designed. Two relatively large cohort studies were noted, where results indicated that WBC was significantly associated with the development of MetS after adjustment for confounding factors, such as gender, age, smoking status, numbers of metabolic components at baseline, and etc [27,28]. However, none of participants in the two cohorts studies focused on the elderly.…”

Association of complete blood cell counts with metabolic syndrome in an elderly population

“…At the same time, several other abnormalities, such as microalbuminuria, inflammation markers, and adipocytokines were found to have strong correlations with CVD and diabetes [2,3]. Contrary to the MetS components, these markers are considered to be "non-traditional components" [4][5][6][7][8]. For example, white blood cell (WBC) count was first found to be associated with MetS by Nagasawa et al This is not completely surprising, since WBC itself is a marker of inflammation [9].…”

“…This evidence strongly implies an association between hematogram components and chronic inflammation [10][11][12][13][14]. Although a number of studies have been published with younger adults [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], little is known about the similar relationships between hematogram and MetS components among the elderly.…”

Use of white blood cell counts to predict metabolic syndrome in the elderly: a 4 year longitudinal study

“…Recently, two longitudinal studies demonstrated a cause and effect relationship between WBC count and MetS among middle-aged adults [17,18]. These two cohorts showed that a higher WBC was associated with a higher risk of developing MetS with a hazard ratio (HR) between 1.26 and 1.66.…”