Background: Recent data have suggested that adipoctye derived monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is related to obesity, insulin resistance and atherosclerosis.
This study evaluates the relationship between serum MCP-1 concentrations and components of metabolic syndrome in Korean population.
Methods: Four hundred and ninety five subjects who had participated in the health check-up were enrolled. The presence of metabolic syndrome was assessed according to American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) criteria.
Results: Mean age of the total subjects was 40.8±6.3 years old and 325 (65.3%) male subjects were included.
In bivariate analyses, serum MCP-1 concentrations were positively correlated with body weight, BMI, fasting insulin and serum triglyceride levels whereas it was negatively correlated with HDL-cholesterol levels. Eighty six subjects had metabolic syndrome and were shown to have higher MCP-1 concentrations compared to the subjects without metabolic syndrome. MCP-1 concentrations increased as the number of components of metabolic syndrome increased.
Conclusion: MCP-1 concentrations correlated with the presence and the severity of metabolic syndrome .This result suggests again that inflammation is closely associated with metabolic syndrome in Korean population.
Prospective study is needed to elucidate the temporal association.

Keywords: Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1
(MCP-1), Adipokine, Metabolic syndrome

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