Use of white blood cell counts to predict metabolic syndrome in the elderly: A 4 year longitudinal study

Background: The white blood cell (WBC) count was one of the first inflammatory markers associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Recently, two longitudinal studies have demonstrated a cause and effect relationship between MetS and WBC counts among middle-aged adults. However, no study has used WBC cutoff values to predict MetS in the elderly.

Methods: Subjects who underwent routine health checkups, and were above 60 years of age, were enrolled. All subjects were followed-up until they developed MetS or until 4 years from the date of entry, whichever came earlier. Of the 4539 subjects eligible for enrollment, 3428 subjects comprised the study group and 1111 subjects comprised the validation group.

Results: WBC counts were significantly different between subjects with and without MetS in both genders. Using the ROC curve, WBC cutoff values of 5.7 × 10³/l in males and 5.0 × 10³/l in females were associated with the increased risk of developing MetS (all p values

Conclusions: The association between WBC count and MetS was gender specific. A WBC cutoff value greater than 5.0 10³/l may predict the development of MetS in elderly women.