Ferrritin and transferrin are associated with metabolic syndrome abnormalities and their change over time in a general population. The D.E.S.I.R. Study

Abstract OBJECTIVE To study cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between iron stocks (ferritin) and the iron transport protein (transferrin) with the metabolic syndrome and its abnormalities. METHODS 469 men, 278 pre- and 197 post-menopausal women from the French D.E.S.I.R. cohort, aged 30-65 years, were followed over six years. RESULTS Higher concentrations of both ferritin and transferrin were associated with the IDF, NCEP-ATP III original and revised metabolic syndromes at baseline: for the IDF metabolic syndrome the standardized, age-adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for log(ferritin) were: 1.49 (1.14-1.94) for men, 2.10 (1.27-3.48) for pre-menopausal women, 1.80 (1.21-2.68) for post-menopausal women; for transferrin they were respectively: 1.94 (1.53-2.47), 2.22 (1.32-3.75), 2.14 (1.47-3.10). After 6-years of follow-up, the change in the presence of the metabolic syndrome was associated with higher baseline log(ferritin) in all three groups: 1.46 (1.13-1.89), 1.28 (0.85-1.94), 1.62 (1.10-2.38), and transferrin: 1.41 (1.10-1.81), 1.63 (1.05-2.52), 1.51 (1.02-2.22). Among syndrome components, hypertriglyceridemia at 6 years was the component most strongly associated with baseline ferritin and transferrin. The odds of an incident IDF-defined metabolic syndrome after 6 years, was more than four-fold higher when ferritin and transferrin were both above the group-specific top tertile, in comparison with participants with both parameters below these thresholds. CONCLUSIONS This is the first prospective study associating ferritin and transferrin with the metabolic syndrome and its components. When both markers of the iron metabolism are elevated, the incidence of the metabolic syndrome is increased in men and both pre- and post-menopausal women.