Study on the association between white matter lesions and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and elderly

Objective:To investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome(MetS) and occurrence of white matter lesions(WML) in middle-aged and elderly.Methods:Eight hundred and fifty-two metabolic syndrome patients over 50 years old were diagnosed as WML using by MRI imaging.The patients were divided into the periventricular white matter lesions(PVWML) group and deep white matter lesions(DWML) according to the lesion site.According to the degree of WML,the patients were divided into the mild,moderate and severe degree.Results:The difference of the lesion degree in PVWML group and DWML group between Mets and nonMetS patients was statistically significant(P<0.01).After adjusting age and gender,the logistic regression analysis showed that MetS was associated with the risk of PVWML and DWML.The more the number of MetS components,the higher the risk of PVWML and DWML was(P<0.01).Conclusions:Metabolic syndrome can increase the risk of white matter lesions.