Elevated sialic acid, but not CRP, predicts features of the metabolic syndrome independently of BMI in women

AIMS: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a predictor of many diseases including type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Fewer studies have similarly shown sialic acid ( SA) to be a predictor of obesity-related diseases, but importantly SA shows less intraindividual variability than CRP and acts as an integrated marker of the activity of a number of acute-phase proteins. This study examines the association between both CRP and SA with individual and combined features of the metabolic syndrome. SUBJECTS: In all, 257 women with a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 25.1 to 54.5 kg/m(2) ( geometric mean 33.1 +/- 5.8 kg/m(2)) and aged 19 - 71 y (mean 45.6 +/- 12.1 y) were studied. Subjects had no symptoms of intercurrent infection, known diabetes, treated dyslipidaemia, a chronic inflammatory condition, liver disease or malignancy. RESULTS: Linear regression demonstrates that both CRP and SA were positively associated with weight, BMI, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and hypertension. There was a highly significant ( P