{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T01:46:08Z","timestamp":1781660768063,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]],"date-time":"2025-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1754006400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Metabolites"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a complex clinical condition characterized by the coexistence of interrelated metabolic abnormalities that significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Endocan\u2014an endothelial cell-specific molecule\u2014is considered a biomarker of endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum endocan levels and the severity of MetS, assessed using the MetS-Z score. Methods: This study included 120 patients with MetS and 50 healthy controls. MetS was diagnosed according to the NCEP-ATP III criteria. MetS-Z scores were calculated using the MetS Severity Calculator. Serum levels of endocan, sICAM-1, and sVCAM-1 were measured using the ELISA method. Results: Serum levels of endocan, sICAM-1, and sVCAM-1 were significantly higher in the MetS group compared to the control group (all p &lt; 0.001). When the MetS group was divided into tertiles based on MetS-Z scores, stepwise and statistically significant increases were observed in the levels of endocan and other endothelial markers from the lowest to highest tertile (p &lt; 0.0001). Correlation analysis revealed a strong positive association between the MetS-Z score and serum endocan levels (r = 0.584, p &lt; 0.0001). ROC curve analysis showed that endocan has high diagnostic accuracy for identifying MetS (AUC = 0.967, p = 0.0001), with a cutoff value of &gt;88.0 ng\/L. Conclusions: Circulating levels of endocan were significantly increased in MetS and were associated with the severity of MetS, suggesting that endocan may play a role in the cellular response to endothelial dysfunction-related injury in patients with MetS.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/metabo15080521","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,5]],"date-time":"2025-08-05T07:49:58Z","timestamp":1754380198000},"page":"521","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Serum Endocan Levels Correlate with Metabolic Syndrome Severity and Endothelial Dysfunction: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the MetS-Z Score"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Mehmet","family":"Vatansever","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Trabzon 61080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sel\u00e7uk","family":"Yaman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Biochemistry, Trabzon Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Trabzon 61080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmet","family":"Cimbek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Trabzon 61080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Y\u0131lmaz","family":"Sezgin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Trabzon 61080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5089-0836","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Serap Ozer","family":"Yaman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Biochemistry, Trabzon Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Trabzon 61080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"216","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijcard.2018.01.139","article-title":"Trends in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components in the United States 2007\u20132014","volume":"259","author":"Shin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. 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