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METABOLIC SYNDROME SEVERITY SCORES INCREASE ACROSS ADOLESCENCE: LONGITUDINAL DATA FROM THE RIGHT TRACK HEALTH STUDY

Abstract

Laurie Wideman, FACSM1, Jessica M. Dollar1, Lenka H. Shriver1, Susan P. Keane1, Lilly Shanahan2. 1UNC Greensboro, Greensboro, NC. 2University of Zurich, Zurich.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) occurs at increasingly younger ages, but there are no standardized definitions or cut points for MetS diagnosis in adolescents. To alleviate this issue, sex and race-specific MetS severity scores (MetS-SS) were developed to provide a single score that encompasses the unique contribution of individual MetS components for future risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (scores; -1-0=low risk, 0-1=some risk, 1-2=high risk). Longitudinal data on MetS-SS across adolescence is lacking; thus, we investigated the change in MetS-SS from age 16-19 (mid- to late adolescence). METHODS: Adolescents (59.2% female; 66.7% White) were assessed at 3 time points; individuals with serum biomarkers were included in analyses (T1=16.6 yrs, N=133; T2=17.6 yrs, N=118; YA=19.4 yrs, N=211). Fasted blood samples were collected, and serum analyzed using either multiplex or commercially available ELISAs. MetS-SS were calculated as outlined by Gurka et al. (2012), using appropriate sex and race/ethnicity specific equations. Descriptive and correlational analyses were completed in SPSS, with significance set at p<.05. RESULTS: Across late adolescence, mean height changed little (~170±10 cm), but mean weight (T1=69.5±19; T2=71.2±16.3; YA=76.6±21.8 kg) and BMI (T1=23.7±5.6; T2=24.5±5.1; YA=25.9±6.5 kg/m2) increased steadily. MetS-SS ranged from -2.25 to 3.15 across ages, with the mean score increasing across time (T1=-.33±.72; T2=-.25±.81; YA=-.07±.83). At age 16, 70% of participants were at low risk, 26.3% at some risk, and 3.8% at high risk of early CVD, respectively. At T2, 62.7% of participants were low risk, 29.7% had some risk and 7.6% had high risk. By YA, only 55.9% of participants were at low risk, 32.2% had some risk, and 11.8% were at high risk. MetS-SS were positively correlated with CRP (r=.24-.41, p<.01) and uric acid (r=.23-.38, p<.01), but negatively correlated with VO2max (ml/kg/min; r=-.25 to -.29, p<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Within our longitudinal cohort, participants show increasing levels of MetS-SS across adolescence, indicating progressively higher cardiometabolic risk burden and increasing risk for poor cardiovascular health outcomes. Grant Funding Information: Supported by NIH Grant RO1 MH58144 & R01 HD078346

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