Metabolic syndrome and blood pressure: are they related or not?

Dear editor

We have read the article “Testosterone, obesity, and waist circumference as determinants of metabolic syndrome in Saudi women” by Fatani et al with great interest.¹

As per National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines, metabolic syndrome (MS) is diagnosed on the basis of the presence of three or more of the following five criteria: waist circumference (WC) over 40 inches (men) or 35 inches (women), fasting triglyceride (TG) level over 150 mg/dL, blood pressure (BP) over 130/85 mmHg, fasting blood sugar over 100 mg/dL, and fasting high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level <40 mg/dL (men) or 50 mg/dL (women).²

Moreover, as per new JNC-8 guidelines, hypertension is defined as BP ≥140/90 mmHg, and in general, SBP value is more than DBP.³ However, in the aforementioned article, SBP was presented as 70.19±3.66 in the control group and 106.62±5.67 in the MS group, and DBP was presented as 113.27±1.17 in the control group and 134.58±2.08 mmHg in the MS group. Specifically, increased DBP is secondary to another disorder of kidney or sleep apnea syndrome and thyroid.⁴

We would be highly obliged for your kind consideration of the abovementioned clarification in your article to avoid discrepancy and highlight a clear idea of the relationship between testosterone, obesity, and WC in the prediction of MS.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this communication.

References

1.		Fatanni SH, Abdelbasit NA, Al-Amodi HS, Mukhtar MM, Babakr AT. Testosterone, obesity, and waist circumference as determinants of metabolic syndrome in Saudi women. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2018;11:175–181.
2.		Huang PL. A comprehensive definition for metabolic syndrome. Dis Model Mech. 2009;2(5–6):231–237.
3.		Bell K, Twigg J, Olin BR. Hypertension: The Silent Killer: Updated JNC-8 Guideline Recommendations. Available from: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.aparx.org/resource/resmgr/CEs/CE_Hypertension_The_Silent_K.pdf. Accessed May 9, 2018.
4.		Livestrong.com. Causes of High Diastolic Blood Pressure. Available from: https://www.livestrong.com/article/136545-causes-high-diastolic-pressure/. Accessed May 9, 2018.
		Dove Medical Press encourages responsible, free and frank academic debate. The content of the Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy ‘letters to the editor’ section does not necessarily represent the views of Dove Medical Press, its officers, agents, employees, related entities or the Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy editors. While all reasonable steps have been taken to confirm the content of each letter, Dove Medical Press accepts no liability in respect of the content of any letter, nor is it responsible for the content and accuracy of any letter to the editor.