ABSTRACT
Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia often coexist with a cluster of metabolic factors including visceral obesity and referred to as the metabolic syndrome. These factors contribute to increased risk to type II diabetes and to ischemic heart disease. We investigated whether plasma leptin and insulin levels were linked with the coronary heart disease independent of the presence of diabetes mellitus. This study was conducted on 80 persons who were divided into 4 groups. Group I included 20 healthy volunteers Group II included 20 patients suffering from IHD without DM. Group III included 20 patients suffering from DM without IHD and Group IV included 20 patients suffering from both DM and IHD. Investigations were done including; FBS, PPS, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, TG, LDL-c, HDL-c, fasting serum insulin and leptin using RIA technique in addition to an EGG. Insulin resistance was calculated using HOMA test. Both mean leptin level and insulin resistance showed no statistical significant difference between ischemic heart disease group and the control group, but were significantly higher in diabetic groups [III, IV] than non-diabetic groups [I, II]. Within diabetic patients we found no significant difference in leptin and insulin resistance levels between those with IHD and those without IHD. In our study we found positive correlation between insulin resistance and BMI, cholesterol, LDL-c and leptin within ischemic heart disease group. Leptin and insulin resistance are associated with increased risk for atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease in the presence of diabetes mellitus