Kim MK, et al. Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Dec;29(4):405-409. http://dx.doi.org/10.3803/EnM.2014.29.4.405

Previous studies have shown that angiopoietin-like protein 8 (ANGPTL8), also called as betatrophin, acts together with ANGPTL3 to regulate lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism, and energy homeostasis. Moreover, ANGPTL8 promotes proliferation of pancreatic β-cells and induces insulin secretion. However, there are no previous longitudinal studies in humans. We analyzed the age- and sex-matched data of 240 normal weight and overweight Korean children from the Korean Metabolic disorders and Obesity Study in Elementary School children (K-MOSES), a prospective observational cohort study. At baseline, ANGPTL8 concentrations were positively associated with triglycerides (TG) (r = 0.168, P = 0.010), whereas ANGPTL3 levels were associated with fasting insulin (r = 0.248, P < 0.001) and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (r = 0.197, P = 0.002). Although both ANGPTL8 and ANGPTL3 levels did not differ between children with normal weight and children with overweight, ANGPTL8 levels were increased in males compared to females (341.2 [267.4–436.5] vs. 270.2 [213.9–378.8] pg/ml, P = 0.001). In particular, there was no significant inter-relationship between circulating ANGPTL8 and ANGPTL3 concentrations in Korean boys and girls (r = −0.073, P = 0.265). Multivariate analysis showed that baseline ANGPTL8 concentrations were independently associated with future changes of serum TG levels in Korean children after adjusting for confounding factors after a 3 year follow-up period (r = −0.165, P = 0.016). This longitudinal study demonstrated for the first time that baseline ANGPTL8 levels were associated with baseline and future changes in TG levels in Korean children.

Background: Concern is growing about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, not only because it is a common liver disorder but also because it is one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease. Unexplained elevations in aminotransferase concentrations have been strongly associated with adiposity and thus may represent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Objective: We investigated the relation between nonviral or nonalcoholic elevations in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and the metabolic syndrome in Korean adolescents. Design: Data were obtained from 1594 subjects aged 10–19 y from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1998, a cross-sectional health survey of a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized civilian South Koreans. Body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, lipid profiles, and serum ALT were measured. Results: The prevalence of elevated ALT (>40 U/L) was 3.6% in boys and 2.8% in girls. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 3.3% in both boys and girls. The components of the metabolic syndrome were significantly worse in the group with elevated ALT concentrations than in the group with normal ALT concentrations. The odds ratios (95% CIs) for elevated ALT were 6.6 (3.7, 11.8), 2.3 (1.2, 4.6), and 3.0 (1.6, 5.8) in the adolescents with abdominal obesity, high triacylglycerol concentrations, and low HDL-cholesterol concentrations, respectively. The odds ratios for elevated ALT were 1.5 (0.7, 3.1), 2.6 (1.1, 6.2), and 6.2 (2.3, 16.8) in the adolescents with 1, 2, and ≥3 risk factors (metabolic syndrome), respectively. Conclusion: The metabolic syndrome was strongly associated with elevated ALT concentrations in Korean adolescents, and this association existed in a graded fashion across the number of metabolic components.

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and their association with risk factors in the Korean population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey 2001 was a nationally representative survey with a stratified multistage sampling design. Data from a comprehensive questionnaire, a physical examination, and blood tests were obtained from 5,844 Korean adults (2,513 men and 3,331 women) aged >20 years. RESULTS—The age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes in this Korean population was 7.6%, and the age-adjusted prevalences of previously diagnosed diabetes and newly diagnosed diabetes were 4.4 and 3.3%, respectively (fasting plasma glucose ≥7.0 mmol/l). Overall, these results indicate that 8.1% or 1.4 million Korean men and 7.5% or 1.3 million Korean women have diabetes. The age-adjusted prevalence of IFG was 23.9%, using the new American Diabetes Association criteria (fasting plasma glucose 5.6–6.9 mmol/l). Diabetes prevalence increased with age and peaked in the oldest age-group; however, IFG prevalence did not show the same trend. Diabetes was found to be associated with age, BMI, blood pressure, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, education levels, alcohol consumption, exercise, and a family history of diabetes. CONCLUSIONS—This study shows that diabetes and IFG are common in Korea, and about one-half of diabetes cases remain undiagnosed. These results emphasize the need to develop an urgent public program to improve the detection, prevention, and treatment of diabetes.

The association of metabolic syndrome (MetS) with the development of Parkinson disease (PD) is currently unclear. We sought to determine whether MetS and its components are associated with the risk of incident PD using large-scale cohort data for the whole South Korean population. Health checkup data of 17,163,560 individuals aged ≥40 years provided by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) of South Korea between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2012, were included, and participants were followed up until December 31, 2015. The mean follow-up duration was 5.3 years. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of PD were estimated using a Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for potential confounders. We identified 44,205 incident PD cases during follow-up. Individuals with MetS (n = 5,848,508) showed an increased risk of PD development compared with individuals without MetS (n = 11,315,052), even after adjusting for potential confounders including age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, income, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and history of stroke (model 3; HR, 95% CI: 1.24, 1.21–1.27). Each MetS component was positively associated with PD risk (HR, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.10–1.16 for abdominal obesity; 1.13, 1.10–1.15 for hypertriglyceridemia; 1.23, 1.20–1.25 for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; 1.05, 1.03–1.08 for high blood pressure; 1.21, 1.18–1.23 for hyperglycemia). PD incidence positively correlated with the number of MetS components (log-rank p < 0.001), and we observed a gradual increase in the HR for incident PD with increasing number of components (p < 0.001). A significant interaction between age and MetS on the risk of incident PD was observed (p for interaction < 0.001), and people aged ≥65 years old with MetS showed the highest HR of incident PD of all subgroups compared to those <65 years old without MetS (reference subgroup). Limitations of this study include the possibilities of misdiagnosis of PD and reverse causality. Our population-based large-scale cohort study suggests that MetS and its components may be risk factors of PD development.