Most clinicians and health professionals have heard or read about metabolic syndrome

The IDF (International Diabetes Federation) Diabetes Atlas Committee has recently published the global estimates of diabetes prevalence for 2019

Background. Adipose tissue (AT) is an important source of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra). Its expression is markedly increased in obesity. Aims and methods. To quantify the associations of IL-1Ra with body fat distribution as well as to examine the respective contributions of IL-1Ra and visceral adiposity to the variation in some cardiometabolic risk (CMR) markers. Plasma IL-1Ra levels were measured in a sample of 117 healthy non-diabetic men (age: 44.9±10.1 years; body mass index (BMI): 28.8±4.5 kg/m²). Results. Plasma IL-1Ra levels correlated positively with BMI, waist girth, and visceral and subcutaneous AT (0.39 ≤ r<0.48; P < 0.0001). Multiple regression analyses revealed that visceral AT was the best independent predictor of IL-1Ra levels, explaining 22% (P < 0.0001) of its variance. IL-1Ra (P < 0.05) was an independent predictor of several CMR markers including triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio, glucose and insulin concentrations in response to a 75 g oral glucose load, and fasting insulin levels, in addition to the expected contribution of visceral AT (P < 0.05). Conclusions. These results suggest that elevated IL-1Ra concentrations are influenced to a greater extent by visceral than subcutaneous adiposity and that IL-1Ra is independently related to some features of CMR beyond the known contribution of visceral adiposity.