MON-099 The Association Between C-Reactive Protein, Metabolic Syndrome, and Pre-Diabetes in Korean Children and Adolescents

Objective: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide, including in Korea. In adults, the risk for CVD is increased approximately three-fold in subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS), and the hazard ratio for subjects with MetS has been reported as 1.37 for mortality from CVD after adjustment for other confounders. Furthermore, MetS in childhood predicts adult MetS and T2DM 25 to 30 years later. Because MetS is a state of chronic low-grade inflammation, measurements of the circulating levels of the inflammatory molecules might provide diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to modulate or alter disease progression. High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a biomarker of inflammation, has emerged as an independent predictor of CVD and T2DM development. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the association between hsCRP and MetS and its components in Korean children and adolescents. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2016–2017. We analyzed the data of 1,247 subjects (633 males, 14.2 ± 2.7 years) from the KNHANES 2016–2017. MetS were defined by the modified NCEP-ATP III criteria. Results: Among the 1,247 subjects (mean age: 14.2 ± 2.7 years), the prevalence of MetS was 5.8% (7.0% in male subjects and 4.6% in female subjects; p = 0.070). The mean hsCRP level was 0.861 ± 1.567 mg/l (median and interquartile range: 0.370 and 0.430mg/l). Subjects with MetS had higher hsCRP levels than subjects without MetS (geometric mean: 1.08 vs. 0.46 mg/l, p < 0.001). The prevalence of MetS in the lowest, second, third, and highest hsCRP quartiles were 1.8%, 2.4%, 3.5%, and 15.2%, respectively. Compared to the lowest quartile, the odds ratio (OR) for having MetS in the highest quartile was 8.414 (3.272–21.638), adjusting for age and sex. The OR for having abdominal obesity and low HDL-C in the highest quartile were 9.657 (4.818–19.355) and 2.408 (1.286–4.510), adjusting for age, sex, and other components of the MetS. Additionally, the OR for having pre-diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 5.7%) in the highest quartile was 2.061 (1.097–3.870). Conclusion: Serum hsCRP level is positively associated with MetS and pre-diabetes in Korean children and adolescents.