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The Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine
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Spleen size in patients with metabolic syndrome and its relation to metabolic and inflammatory parameters

The Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine volume 30, pages 78–82 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Introduction

Spleen may be enlarged in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS). Many factors that are encountered in MS were incriminated as etiology of the splenomegaly. The aim of this study was to assess spleen longitudinal diameter (SLD) in patients with MS and to investigate the possible factors affecting spleen size.

Patients and methods

The study included 60 patients with MS and 30 healthy controls. Assessment of full medical history, anthropometric measurements, and abdominal ultrasound to identify SLD and hepatic steatosis was carried out. Liver enzymes, lipid profile, and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were measured. Fatty liver index, which is considered a marker of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, was calculated from serum triglyceride, BMI, waist circumference, and γ-glutamyl transferase.

Results

SLD was significantly higher in patients with MS than controls (123.57±13.88 vs. 101.20±5.44 mm, P <0.001), but IL-10 level was significantly lower (65.24±23.47 vs. 129.41±27.65 pg/ml, P <0.001). Spearman correlation in patients with MS showed significant positive correlation between SLD and waist circumference (r=0.398, P=0.002), alanine aminotransferase (r=0.295, P=0.027), aspartate, aminotransferase (r=0.442, P=0.001), alkaline phosphatase (r=0.444, P=0.001), but not with IL-10 (r= –0.047, P=0.730). Linear regression analysis revealed that waist circumference (β=0.265, P=0.044) and alkaline phosphatase (β=0.340, P=0.011) were the only determinants of SLD.

Conclusion

In this study, patients with MS had larger spleen size than healthy controls. SLD significantly correlated with waist circumference but not IL-10 in patients with MS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Cairo University, 41 Manial Street, 11451, Cairo, Egypt

    Rokaya Abd El-Aziz & Mervat Naguib (MD)

  2. Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

    Laila A. Rashed

Authors
  1. Rokaya Abd El-Aziz
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  2. Mervat Naguib
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  3. Laila A. Rashed
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Correspondence to Mervat Naguib.

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Abd El-Aziz, R., Naguib, M. & Rashed, L.A. Spleen size in patients with metabolic syndrome and its relation to metabolic and inflammatory parameters. Egypt J Intern Med 30, 78–82 (2018). https://doi.org/10.4103/ejim.ejim_86_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ejim.ejim_86_17

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