Introduction: The metabolic syndrome (MS) is known as a signifi cant predictor marker for cardiovascular disease. Nowadays many clinical trials are focused on the role of inflammation in MS and cardiovascular events. Our study investigated the correlation between white blood cell count (WBC), as a marker of infl ammation, and components of the MS. Methods: 114 consecutive hospitalized patients with MS were included in our study. MS was defined according to the recommended standard criteria. For obesity evaluation of body mass index (BMI) was also used. The participants were categorized by WBC values in 4 subgroups (W1-W4 from highest to lowest WBC mean values). Results: The incidence of all MS components was significantly higher in W1 (elevated triglycerides – TG = 70%, elevated blood pressure – BP = 80%, elevated fasting glucose – GLU = 96.6%, diabetes mellitus – DM = 73.2%, obesity – O = 86.66%, low concentrations of HDL-col = 53%) compared with W4 (TG = 60.86%, BP = 69.56%, GLU = 82.6%, DM = 56.52%, O = 73.91%, HDL-col = 48.82%) (p < 0.05). A direct relation was also observed between the number of the MS components and WBC values. The mean values of TG (190.93 mg/d), GLU (166.2 mg/dl) and BMI (42.32 kg/m2) were higher in W1 comparing W4 (TG = 175.26 mg/dl, GLU = 127.86 mg/dl, BMI = 32.04 kg/m2) (p < 0.05), while the mean values of HDL-col were higher in W4 (W4 = 42.91 mg/dl, W1 = 39.53 mg/dl, p < 0.003). Only BP values were not related with WBC (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our study suggests that mean values of the MS components are influenced by inflammation evaluated by WBC. Interestingly, a relation with BP can’t be sustained, possibly because of modified values with antihypertensive treatment. WBC could predict the risk for cardiovascular events in patients with MS.