Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between carotid artery intima-media thickness and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1)in patients with metabolic syndrome(MS).Methods According to the definition of MS by NCEP-ATP Ⅲ,323 patients were divided into the MS group(160 cases)and without MS group(163 cases).The PAI-1 level was assayed by ELISA.The carotid artery intima-media thickness(IMT)and atherosclerotic plaque were measured by high-frequency Doppler ultrasound.Results The PAI-1 level,carotid IMT and incidence rate of plaque of the MS group were 30.52±11.02 ng/ml,0.92±0.21 mm and 63.1% respectively.Those of the without MS group were 26.57±11.09 ng/ml,0.86±0.20 mm and 49.1% respectively.There was a significant difference between two groups(P<0.05～0.01).Moreover,with the increasing of the number of MS components,the carotid artery intima-media thickness(IMT)and incidence rate of plaque were gradually increased(P<0.05).The stepwise regression analysis showed that PAI-1 was independently associated with the carotid IMT(standardized coefficients=0.105,P<0.05).Conclusion MS tends to cause carotid atherosclerosis,the increase of PAI-1 is possibly correlated with carotid artery atherosclerosis.

Key words: metabolic syndrome, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1), intima-media thickness, artery atherosclerosis