Mean platelet volume in patients with metabolic syndrome and its relationship with coronary artery disease

Background: Mean platelet volume (MPV) is an indicator of platelet activation which is a central process in the pathophysiology of coronary heart disease. The metabolic syndrome (MS) is characterized as the clustering of closely associated and interdependent atherosclerotic risk factors. MS has also been shown to be strongly associated with poor outcome in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The present study was designed to investigate MPV values in patients MS and to interrogate the association with CAD. Methods: We measured MPV in 205 consecutive patients with metabolic syndrome (mean age, 53 +/- 7 years) and 140 control subjects without metabolic syndrome (mean age, 52 +/- 6 years). All patients were selected from individuals who underwent coronary angiography in our hospital with a suspicion of coronary artery disease. To evaluate the severity of coronary artery disease, the patients with MS were subdivided depending upon the coexistence of coronary artery disease: normal coronary arteries, having coronary stenotic lesions of < 50%, and having coronary stenotic lesions of > 50%. Results: The MPV was significantly higher in patients with MS than in the control group (10.19 +/- 1.49 fl vs 8.21 +/- 1.02 fl, p < 0.001). According to the CAD severity, there were no statistically significant differences in MPV among these subgroups. Conclusion: We have shown for the first time that patients with MS have higher MPV compared to control subjects with normal coronary angiograms and to be associated with CAD. Hence MPV can be used as a follow up marker in patients with MS in the point of CAD. (C) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.