Sex-Related Differences in the Association between Metabolic Syndrome and Gallstone Disease

An epidemiological investigation of gallstone disease among patients admitted to Shahid Rahimi teaching hospital in Khorramabad in 2016-2020

Background

Gallstones are a significant global health issue, imposing enormous costs to patients and the healthcare system, annually.

Objectives

This epidemiological study aimed to explore the prevalence of gallstones among inpatients who were admitted to Shahid Rahimi Hospital in Khorramabad City, Iran, from 2016 to 2020.

Methods

This was a retrospective and descriptive-analytical study. The study population included patients who were admitted to Shahid Rahimi Hospital in Khorramabad City, Iran, who underwent abdominal ultrasounds from 2016 to 2020. The required data were collected using a checklist and patients' records. The logistic regression analysis method was used to analyse the obtained data in SPSS at the significance level of P<0.05.

Results

Of the 927 explored subjects, 232(25%) presented gallstones. The mean age of the patients with gallstones was 62.9 years. The most frequent symptom in individuals with gallstones was right upper quadriceps abdominal pain (63%). There was a significant relationship between gallstone and age, gender, epigastric pain, upper quadrant pain, hypertension, anemia, and family history.

Conclusion

The present study findings indicated that increasing age, female gender, the lack of epigastric pain, upper quadrant pain, anemia, hypertension, and a family history of this disease increased the risk of generating gallstone disease.

Association between metabolically healthy overweight/obesity and gallstones in Chinese adults

BACKGROUND

Metabolic syndrome and obesity are risk factors for gallstones. However, these two factors often occur together, and few studies have focused on the association between metabolically healthy overweight/obesity (MHOW/MHO) and gallstones. We hypothesized that MHO individuals would be associated with the prevalence of gallstones.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 125,668 participants aged 18-80 years at the Health Promotion Center of Run Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine during 2017-2019 years. Each participant underwent a comprehensive health checkup. Gallstones were diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography. Metabolically health was defined as not meeting the diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome (MetS). Obesity was measured by BMI. MetS and weight stratification were combined to classify the metabolism-obesity phenotypes. Logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs.

RESULTS

Among 125,668 participants, 5486 (4.4%) had gallstones. 21407 (17.0%) were MHOW individuals, and 3322 (2.6%) were MHO individuals. MHOW (OR 1.40; 95%CI: 1.29-1.53) and MHO (OR 1.80; 95%CI: 1.53-2.12) participants were at higher risk of gallstones and had larger and more numerous gallstones than metabolically healthy normal weight participants. Obesity, MetS, premenopausal women and advanced age were significantly associated with the prevalence of gallstones.

CONCLUSIONS

MHOW/MHO individuals exhibited a higher risk of gallstones. In metabolically healthy individuals, the risk of gallstones increased with increasing BMI. Thus, obesity was associated with the prevalence of gallstones, even in relatively metabolically healthy adults.

Association of METS-IR index with prevalence of gallbladder stones and the age at the first gallbladder stone surgery in US adults: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between the metabolic score for insulin resistance (METS-IR) index and gallbladder stoneprevalence in US adults, as well as the age at first gallbladder stone surgery.

METHODS

A logistic regression analysis, subgroup analysis, and dose-response curve were computed for participants in the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to assess the relationship between the METS-IR index and gallbladder stone prevalence and age at first surgery for gallbladder stones.

RESULTS

This study ultimately included 9452 participants aged >20 years, of whom 534 self-reported a history of gallbladder stones, and after adjusting for all confounders, each unit increase in METS-IR index was associated with a 3.3% increase in gallbladder stone prevalence (OR= 1.033, 95% CI: 1.0258, 1.0403) along with an earlier age at first gallbladder stone surgery 0.26 years (β= -0.26, 95% CI: -0.35, -0.17), stratified analysis showed that increased METS-IR index was associated with increased prevalence of gallbladder stones in all subgroups, and the dose-response curve showed a positive linear correlation between METS-IR index and prevalence of gallbladder stones, while a negative linear correlation was observed between increased METS-IR index and age at first gallbladder stone There was a negative linear correlation between age at surgery.

CONCLUSION

The METS-IR index has been positively associated with gallbladder stone prevalence, thereby contributing to age at first surgery for gallbladder stones. However, the causal relationship between the METS-IR and gallbladder stones cannot be concluded.