Lipid Accumulation Product and Cardiometabolic Index as Effective Tools for the Identification of Athletes at Risk for Metabolic Syndrome.

introductionMetabolic syndrome (MS) is a growing global public health concern that is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular events, even in athletes. The lipid accumulation product (LAP) index and cardiometabolic index (CMI) have been shown to be efficient markers of MS in the general population; its applicability in athletes has not been discussed yet. We aimed to assess the role of LAP and CMI in predicting MS in athletes.

methodsWe retrospectively enrolled 793 Olympic athletes practicing different sporting disciplines (power, skill, endurance, and mixed), classified arbitrarily into no risk (NR), low risk (LR), high risk (HR), or MS if they had 0, 1, 2, or 3 criteria for MS, respectively. Evaluations included a calculation of the LAP index, CMI, anthropometric measurements, and clinical and laboratorial variables.

resultsAmong our population, only 0.8% reached the criteria for MS, 9.1% were at HR for MS, 37.8% were defined as LR, and 52.3% had NR. Significant differences in anthropometric parameters and the principal components of MS criteria (blood pressure, lipidic profile, glycemia) were reported predominantly in HR athletes and those with MS (

conclusionThe ROC curve analyses of LAP and CMI showed good diagnostic accuracy in predicting MS among athletes, despite the low prevalence of MS in our sample. Thus, these indexes may be used to promote screening for primary prevention and early detection of athletes at risk for MS to establish an early prevention strategy. Larger prospective studies are necessary to validate their benefit in the general population.