Comparison of serum ferritin and oxidative stress biomarkers between Japanese workers with and without metabolic syndrome

Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is closely associated to life-style and is characterized by central obesity causing severe diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM) or atherosclerosis. This study investigates the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in MS. Subjects: Total of 685 workers stratified by gender (293 men and 392 women) with a mean age of 41.2 +/- 10.4 in different offices in a city in Japan. Methods: Fasting blood and urine tests for MS, oxidative and/or inflammatory biomarker analysis and blood pressure (BP) measurement were performed. MS was defined on the basis of the Japanese criterion. Results: Serum ferritin and urinary hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels were significantly higher in subjects with MS than those without. Ferritin was positively correlated with 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in all subjects and it was negatively correlated with 8-isoprostane and H2O2 in men. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between ferritin and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-R) in men. By using multiple regression analysis, ferritin was closely correlated with HOMA-R, gamma-GT, 8-OHdG, smoking value and amount of alcohol ingestion in men, and it was correlated with 8-OHdG, gamma-GT, HOMA-R in women under 50 years old. Conclusions: Ferritin is a useful marker of MS including insulin resistance, reflecting the importance of oxidative stress as a cause of MS, especially in men. (C) 2013 Asian Oceanian Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.