Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Lipid Clinic at the Interdisciplinary Metabolism Center, Berlin, Germany.
PLoS One. 2018 Dec 12;13(12):e0208231. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208231. eCollection 2018.
The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease associated with reduced physical fitness, higher disease burden, and impaired cognitive functions. Little is known about the operation of these risk factors in older adults when considered comprehensively without relying on the cut-off values of the single MetS components. The three main aims of the current study were to: (i) establish a latent metabolic load factor (MetL), using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and representing a continuous measure of MetL, defined by indicators that are commonly used to separate MetS groups from healthy individuals; (ii) examine the associations of this MetL factor with objective health, and cognitive function in men and women; (iii) compare the magnitude of these associations to those observed for the individual indicators used to define the MetL factor as well to the classical categorized MetS vs. non-MetS groups. The current analysis is based on cross-sectional data from 1,609 participants of the Berlin Aging Study II (mean age = 68.5 years, SD (3.7); 50.1% female). We applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to establish a latent MetL factor defined by the five indicators commonly used to diagnose MetS. The latent MetL factor was associated with physician-assessed morbidity and kidney function (estimated glomerular filtration rate, eGFR) in both men and women, but not with hand grip strength and lung function (Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1)). In addition, we found a negative association between MetL and fluid intelligence among men. A continuous latent variable approach representing the common variance of MetS indicators is well suited to foster our understanding of human aging as a systemic phenomenon in which risk factors are operating on either side of the normal versus pathological divide.
代谢综合征（MetS）是一组心血管疾病风险因素，与身体适应能力降低、疾病负担增加和认知功能受损有关。当不依赖于单个 MetS 成分的截止值而全面考虑这些风险因素时，人们对老年人中这些风险因素的运作情况知之甚少。当前研究的三个主要目的是：（i）使用验证性因子分析（CFA）建立潜在的代谢负荷因子（MetL），并代表由通常用于将 MetS 组与健康个体分开的指标定义的 MetL 的连续度量；（ii）检查该 MetL 因子与男性和女性的客观健康和认知功能之间的关联；（iii）比较这些关联的幅度与用于定义 MetL 因子的单个指标观察到的关联以及经典的分类 MetS 与非 MetS 组之间的关联。本分析基于来自柏林老龄化研究 II （Berlin Aging Study II）的 1609 名参与者的横断面数据（平均年龄= 68.5 岁，标准差（3.7）；50.1%为女性）。我们应用结构方程模型（SEM）来建立一个潜在的 MetL 因子，该因子由五个通常用于诊断 MetS 的指标来定义。在男性和女性中，潜在的 MetL 因子与医生评估的发病率和肾功能（估计肾小球滤过率，eGFR）相关，但与握力和肺功能（1 秒用力呼气量（FEV1））无关。此外，我们发现 MetL 与男性的流体智力之间存在负相关。代表 MetS 指标共同方差的连续潜在变量方法非常适合促进我们对人类衰老的理解，即将风险因素作为一种系统性现象运作，在正常与病理之间的分界两侧。
