Metabolic syndrome among Ghanaian patients presenting with chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a general risk factor for cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Western populations. This study assessed the relationship between MetS and its compo- nents in Ghanaian patients presenting with CKD. The study population comprised of 146 non- dialysed individuals with CKD with mean age of 50.2±1.1 years. Eighty (80) age and sex matched healthy participants without kidney pathology were used as controls. Estimated GFR (eGFR) was calculated using the 4-variable Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (4v-MDRD) and CKD was defined as eGFR<60 ml/min/1.73m2. MetS was defined as the presence of three or more of the following risk factors according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) criteria: elevated blood pressure (BP), low high density lipoprotein cho- lesterol (HDL-C), high triglycerides (TG), elevated plasma glucose and abdominal obesity. The prevalence of MetS in this study was 30.1% and a significant relationship was observed between the number of MetS components and the presence CKD. The CKD group are about 3 times at risk of developing MetS as compared to the control group (95% CI=0.9-8.8). Female participants with CKD are 9 fold at risk of developing MetS as compared to the male counterparts (95% CI=1.7-47.9). The CKD patients were about 2 fold at risk of developing hypertension (95% CI=1.7-3.3) and dia- betes (95% CI=1.2-2.6), about 3 times at risk of developing hypertriglyceridaemia (95% CI=1.1-5.5) and approximately 4 times at risk of developing proteinuria (95% CI=2.7-7.0). Increased WC, TG and SBP are components of the metabolic syndrome which contribute to the initiation and pro- gression of CKD.