BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome is associated with increased risk of breast cancer, but little is known about the association between metabolic syndrome and mammographic density as an independent predictor of breast cancer. In this study, we investigated the association between metabolic syndrome or its components and three-dimensional breast density using digital mammography. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data of 166 women, aged 20 or over (61 premenopausal and 105 postmenopausal women) in a district hospital. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the modified National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) guideline. We measured volume percentage of dense breast tissue using digital mammography. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the association between mammographic density and metabolic syndrome, as well as its components. RESULTS: The Mean mammographic density was lower in the group with metabolic syndrome compared with the group without it. After adjusting for age and menopausal status, multiple regression analysis showed waist circumference (beta=-3.112, S.E.=0.927, P=0.001) and low HDL-cholesterol (beta=-2.967, S.E.=1.109, P=0.008) were independent variables for the percentage of mammographic density, although metabolic syndrome itself was not. After additional adjustment for body mass index, only low HDL-cholesterol was associated with percentage of mammographic density (beta=-2.953, S.E.=0.882, P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, only low HDL cholesterol was associated with three-dimensional mammographic density independently after adjusting for age, menopausal status and body mass index. These findings need to be confirmed in further larger prospective studies.
Adult ; Body Mass Index ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast* ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Education ; Female ; Hospitals, District ; Humans ; Mammography* ; Prospective Studies ; Waist Circumference

BACKGROUNDS: Many reports have proposed a significant role for vitamin D in immune mediated disease. This study analyzed the lymphocyte subsets according to serum 25(OH) vitamin D levels in postmenopausal women to determine the potential effect of vitamin D on immune-mediated disease. METHODS: We enrolled 31 postmenopausal women who underwent health checkup in a university hospital. Peripheral blood samples were taken for the investigation of the levels of T, B, and natural killer (NK) cells and the, proportion of CD3+, CD4+ ,CD8+, Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg subsets of T lymphocyte in the morning after overnight fast. We also measured serum 25(OH) Vitamin D and evaluated the relationship between vitamin D levels and lymphocyte subpopulations. RESULTS: The subjects were divided into three groups according to serum vitamin D levels. There was no significant correlation between the level of vitamin D and the percentages of three lymphocyte subtypes. The proportion of CD4+ T cell (P for trend 0.024) and the CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio(P for trend 0.000) was declined across increasing tertiles of vitamin D levels. The proportion of CD8+T cell was increased with increasing of tertiles of vitamin D levels (P for trend 0.004). And the results showed that the CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio differed significantly between the groups with lowest and the middle vitamin D levels and between the groups with lowest and the highest. CONCLUSIONS: Serum vitamin D levels in postmenopausal women are associated with changes in the peripheral T cell compartment. These results provide insight into the immunomodulatory properties of vitamin D andthe possible beneficial associations between vitamin Dand immune-mediated disease.
Female ; Humans ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphocytes ; Vitamin D ; Vitamins