Background: Several components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) facilitate its diagnosis, including abdominal obesity, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. The production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) seem to be associated with MetS components. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the serum levels of TNFα and IL-6 with metabolic syndrome and its components.

Methods: This case-control study investigated a total of 250 subjects, comprising 125 healthy controls from the Kerman Blood Transfusion Organization and 125 metabolic syndrome patients. Serum IL-6 and TNF-a levels were measured using the ELISA technique.

Results: There was a significant increase in the serum levels of TNF-a and IL-6 in patients with metabolic syndrome compared with the controls. However, a lack of correlation between MetS components and TNF-a and IL-6 serum levels was detected.

Conclusions: Patients with MetS had significantly raised serum IL-6 and TNF-a levels compared with the controls, supporting the evidence that inflammation plays an important role in the immunopathogenesis of the disease. Additionally, serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-a are suggested as valuable predicting factors for MetS. The lack of association between IL-6 and TNF-a serum levels and MetS components remains to be investigated by further research.