Longitudinal Associations of Metabolic Syndrome Severity Between Childhood and Young Adulthood: The Bogalusa Heart Study.

backgroundChildhood metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with insulin resistance and increased risk for later development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). In using MetS severity z-scores, our objective was to assess longitudinal associations in MetS severity, fasting insulin levels as a sign of insulin resistance and risk for T2DM, and uric acid levels as a biomarker of oxidative stress leading to CVD.

methodsWe used linear regression to analyze longitudinal data from 285 white and black participants from the Bogalusa Heart Study evaluated at baseline at ages 5-19 and as young adults after a mean of 12.0 years follow-up. We assessed correlations between childhood MetS severity and young-adult MetS severity, fasting insulin, and uric acid levels, both overall and by sex- and racial subgroups.

resultsOverall, childhood MetS z-scores were positively associated with young-adult MetS z-scores (r = 0.52), insulin (r = 0.34), and uric acid (r = 0.28) (all P < 0.001). These associations were consistent across all sex- and racial subgroups, except for young adult uric acid in white males in which childhood MetS-z was not associated (r = 0.15, P = 0.243). There was a strong cross-sectional association of young-adult MetS z-scores with insulin (r = 0.70) and uric acid (r = 0.57) (both P < 0.001), which was consistent for all sex- and racial subgroups.

conclusionsThese positive longitudinal correlations between childhood MetS z-scores and markers of later insulin resistance and oxidative stress suggest long-term durability of risk for CVD and T2DM. This suggests potential for MetS severity to serve as an indicator to monitor for future risk of T2DM and CVD.