Association of Serum Amylase Activity and the Copy Number Variation of with Metabolic Syndrome in Chinese Adults.

Purpose: Low serum amylase activity and copy number (CN) variation (CNV) of the salivary amylase gene () are reportedly associated with obesity and abnormal glucose metabolism; however, this association remains controversial. We aimed to clarify the relationship between serum amylase activity and the CNV of with the occurrence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Chinese adults.

Patients And Methods: Anthropometry, metabolic risk factors, and serum amylase activity were assessed in 560 subjects (260 MetS patients; 300 healthy controls). CNs were evaluated using the highly sensitive droplet digital PCR.

Results: The serum total, pancreatic, and salivary amylase activity, but not the CNs, was significantly lower in MetS patients than that in the control subjects. Patients <45 y had a lower CN, compared to that in healthy controls. Low serum amylase activity was significantly associated with high MetS prevalence ( < 0.001). In the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, serum amylase activity was a significant diagnostic indicator for MetS. The diagnostic value of total amylase was second only to that of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase; it was higher than that of alanine aminotransferase and uric acid.

Conclusion: Low serum amylase activity was significantly associated with increased risk of MetS in Chinese adults. Therefore, amylase could be a potential biomarker for predicting MetS.