The parental phenotype of diabetes, but not of essential hypertension, is linked to the development of metabolic syndrome in Mexican individuals.

Studies on the role of parental history on the risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MS) show inconsistent data that may depend on misclassification of the parental history. Confirming carefully the parental phenotype (PF) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and essential hypertension (EH) of participants' parents, we determined the relationship between PF of either DM or EH and the risk of developing MS in Mexican individuals. A case-control study of 210 subjects randomly recruited from Durango, Mexico was carried out. Subjects with MS (cases) were compared with a control group of subjects without MS matched by age and gender. MS was defined by the presence of two or more of the following: fasting glucose > or =7.0 mmol/l; blood pressure > or =160/90 mmHg; fasting triglycerides > or =1.7 mmol/l and/or HDL-cholesterol <1.0 mmol/l; and obesity (body mass index > or =30 kg/m2 and/or waist-to-hip ratio > or =0.85). The PF of DM and EH was confirmed by direct clinical examination and/or review of certificates of death of each of the participants' parents. Incomplete or unclear data about PH were exclusion criteria. Multivariate analysis showed that PF of DM without EH (odds ratio (OR) 2.6; 95% CI, 1.3-7.8, p=0.044) and PF of both DM and EH (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.5-9.1, p=0.0001), but not the PF of EH without DM are independent predictors for developing MS in Mexican individuals. In the offspring generation of Mexican subjects, the PF of DM seems to increase the risk of developing MS, whereas PF of EH does not.