Background and aims The association between PAI-1 act and markers of the metabolic syndrome is well established in Caucasian populations, but data on African subjects is lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate possible differences between the association of PAI-1 act and markers of the metabolic syndrome in Caucasian and African women. Methods and results Cross-sectional data were collected from 95 African and 114 Caucasian women in the Potchefstroom district of the North West Province, South Africa. Plasma PAI-1 act was almost twice as high in Caucasians compared to Africans (10.2 versus 5.2 U/mL, p act were remarkably stronger in Caucasians than in Africans. In multivariate regression analyses 56% of the variance of PAI-1 act could be explained by metabolic syndrome variables in the Caucasian group compared to 12% in the African women. Waist circumference was the strongest independent predictor of PAI-1 act in both groups. Conclusion This study showed lower PAI-1 act in African than in Caucasian women, along with less associations of PAI-1 act with markers of the metabolic syndrome in the African than in the Caucasian women. The role of PAI-1 act in the metabolic syndrome may be less prominent in Africans than in Caucasians.
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