Impact of metabolic syndrome on adiponectin, cardio-ankle vascular index, and cardiovascular risk in middle-aged obese men: A cross-sectional study

This study aimed to determine the impact of metabolic syndrome (MetS) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in obese men by assessing adiponectin levels, cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), and the 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease using the Thai cardiovascular risk score (TCVRS), and evaluated whether CAVI and adiponectin could serve as predictors for CVD. Among 82 middle-aged obese men, 70.7 % had MetS, 56.1 % had hypoadiponectinemia, 20.7 % were classified as having a high CAVI (>8), and 15.9 % were considered at high cardiovascular risk (TCVRS ≥20 %). Participants in the MetS group had a higher CVD risk, as evidenced by significantly higher TCVRS and lower adiponectin compared to the non-MetS group, though CAVI did not differ significantly. Among the components of MetS, high triglyceride and low HDL-cholesterol levels affected adiponectin levels, while high fasting plasma glucose levels impacted CAVI values, which was supported by Spearman correlation analysis. Additionally, CAVI positively correlated with TCVRS and was identified as an independent predictor of CVD risk in both the total and MetS groups. Conversely, adiponectin exhibited an inverse correlation and was an independent predictor in the non-MetS group. Importantly, subgroup analysis indicated that participants with higher CAVI had a greater CVD risk compared to those with normal CAVI levels. Notably, participants with high CAVI who did not have hypoadiponectinemia exhibited the highest TCVRS, with over half classified as being at high cardiovascular risk.