Abstract:

Objective  To investigate the association between serum bilirubin and metabolic syndrome (MS) of asymptomatic populations in one tertiary hospital of Jinan, Shandong Province, China. Methods  A total of 4896 subjects who came to Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University for routine health check-up from January 2012 to September 2012 were enrolled in this study. Demographic information was collected by questionnaire. The data of physical examination and laboratory test were collected. Pearson correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis were performed in order to find out the relationship between serum bilirubin and MS (components). Results  The prevalence rate of MS was 10.7% and it was higher in males than in females(13.1% vs 7.2%， χ2 =44.486，P<0.001).The fasting direct bilirubin (DBIL) levels were lower in both males and females with MS than in those without MS ［(2.55±0.78)μmol/L vs (2.79±0.92)μmol/L for males and (2.09±0.84)μmol/L vs (2.29±0.85)μmol/L for females, P<0.01］. Total bilirubin and indirect bilirubin levels had no significant differences between the two groups. Partial correlation analysis found that DBIL was inversely related with BMI, fasting serum glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol and LDL-C(P<0.05). It also found that DBIL was positively related with HDL-C (P<0.001). After adjustment for age, alcohol intake, uric acid, AST, ALT and GGT, the significance of inverse association between DBIL and MS became attenuated in females while was still consistent in males. Odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of the lowest, 2nd and 3rd quartiles of DBIL compared with the highest quartile were 1.7(1.2-2.4), 1.7(1.2-2.3) and 1.3(1.0-1.8) in males and 1.3(0.6-2.8), 1.3(0.6-2.9) and 1.3(0.6-3.0) in females respectively. Conclusion  The prevalence of MS is inversely correlated with fasting DBIL among asymptomatic male population.

Key words: Bilirubin, Metabolic syndrome, Routine check-up