Abstract
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a multicomponent risk condition that reflects the clustering of individual cardiometabolic risk factors related to abdominal obesity and insulin resistance. MetS increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, there still is not total clinical consensus about the definition of MetS, and its pathophysiology seems to be heterogeneous. Moreover, it remains unclear whether MetS is a single syndrome or a set of diverse clinical conditions conferring different metabolic and cardiovascular risks. Indeed, traditional biomarkers alone do not explain well such heterogeneity or the risk of associated diseases. There is thus a need to identify additional biomarkers that may contribute to a better understanding of MetS, along with more accurate prognosis of its various chronic disease risks. To fulfill this need, omics technologies may offer new insights into associations between sphingolipids and cardiometabolic diseases. Particularly, ceramides –the most widely studied sphingolipid class– have been shown to play a causative role in both T2DM and CVD. However, the involvement of simple glycosphingolipids remains controversial. This review focuses on the current understanding of MetS heterogeneity and discuss recent findings to address how sphingolipid profiling can be applied to better characterize MetS-associated risks.
Highlights
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are currently a major cause of morbidity and mortality with major overall economic healthcare burden worldwide [1]
This review focuses on the current understanding of metabolic syndrome (MetS) heterogeneity as well as recent findings that address how sphingolipid profiling may provide additional and valuable information to better characterize MetS-associated risk
Abdominal obesity seems to increase all classes of sphingolipids, a blood profile characterized by high levels of ceramides and low levels of simple βglycosphingolipids in MetS patients may implicate a higher risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) (Figure 2), based on the evidence discussed here
Summary
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are currently a major cause of morbidity and mortality with major overall economic healthcare burden worldwide [1]. Among these conditions, CVD of atherosclerotic origin (ASCVD) stands out because of its high prevalence and the significant acute ischemic complications and chronic consequences. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) – a well-known clustering of risk factors [3]– doubles the risk for CVD and increases five-fold the chance for T2DM [4]. MetS is associated with increased risk of a number of common cancers [6] and neurodegenerative disorders [7] and is an important risk factor influencing progression and prognosis of COVID-19 [8]
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