Uric Acid, creatinine and proteinuria: do they have any relationship with leptin during pre-eclampsia?

To determine the relationship between serum leptin, uric acid, creatinine and proteinuria during pre-eclampsia. Comparative cross-sectional study. This study was carried out in the department of physiology, Basic Medical Sciences Institute, JPMC, in collaboration with the department of Gynaecology and Obstetric, JPMC from Jan 2007 to Dec 2007. For this purpose 45 primigravidas with normal pregnancy and 45 primigravidas with pre-eclamptic pregnancy were selected who were in their third trimester. All the subjects were of the same maternal age, gestational age, height and weight. Serum leptin levels were determined by immunoenzymometric assay and total lipid profile was determined by enzymatic colorimetric method. Serum uric acid and serum creatinine were determined by uricase method and jaffe's method by photometric system. To perform the dipstick urine analysis, multistix URS-10 test strips were used. The study included 90 patients, divided into two groups. Serum uric acid was found to be significant in pre-eclamptic group [p<0.001] but there was no difference between serum creatinine of the two groups. No significant correlation was found between serum leptin, uric acid and creatinine. It was found that the level of leptin rises with the level of proteinuria. From this study, it was concluded that serum leptin levels during pre-eclampsia were not strongly associated with serum uric acid and creatinine but relation with proteinuria was found to be significant

Comparison of gamma glutamyltransferase in normal and in type 2 diabetics

Comparison of gamma glutamyltransferase in normal and type 2 diabetics. In a cross-sectional study, 100 apparently normal healthy subjects and, 47 type 2 diabetic subjects were selected from either sex with ages between 18-65 years.Subjects were measured for waist/hip ratio, BMI and serum levels of ALT, AST.Alk Phosphatase and Glutamyl Transferase [GGT]. The study excluded by screening for AntiHCV, HBsAg and patients with aspartate amino transferase [SGOT], alanine amino transferase [SGPT], GGT levels more than three times the normal and subject with a total leukocyte count more than 10,000/microl. The levels of GGT levels were found to be most significant among all the liver enzymes [P = 0.001]. The levels of GGT compared with type 2 diabetics was found to be significantly increased when compared with BMI, waist/circumference, cholesterol, triglycerides [TG], High Density Lipoprotein [HDL], Low density Lipoprotein [LDL], fasting blood sugar level and blood pressure [P = 0.001]. The pearson regression analysis showed a positive relation with systolic, diastolic blood pressure and fasting blood sugar. These results indicate that levels of GGT were raised with increased waist girth, BMI, blood pressure TG and low HDL, all of these are the features of metabolic syndrome according to ATP III criteria. Hence, serum GGT may be an important investigation for diabetes and metabolic syndrome

comparison of the effects of gamma glutamyltransferase on age and obesity among normal, hypertensive and type 2 diabetics

The purpose of this work was to compare the effects of Gamma Glutamyltransferase on age and obesity among normal, hypertensive and type 2 diabetics. It is a cross-sectional study which was conducted in the department of Physiology B.M.S.I., J.P.M.C. Karachi from December 2006 to October 2007. All subjects who have never used alcohol in their lifetime were selected. A total of 100 normal, 50 each diabetic and hypertensive patients were recruited to the study. Increase in age was significantly associated with raised GGT levels in normal, hypertensive and type 2 diabetic subjects [p < 0.01]. GGT levels were significantly [p < 0.001] greater in both hypertensive and diabetic subjects compared to normal subjects. The study confirms the relation between age obesity with GGT levels among non-alcoholics. This study also indicates the significance of GGT among diabetics and hypertensive patients

Brain natriuretic peptide, systolic and diastolic blood pressures

Hypertension is an increasingly important medical and public health issue. Because of life time risk of hypertension Joint National Committee-7 introduced a new term "Pre-hypertension" for those with systolic blood pressure 120-139 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure 80-89 mmHg. Individuals prone to the development of hypertension often have a hyperdynamic circulation antedating the onset of hypertension by several years. Brain Natriuretic Peptide is a new promising cardiovascular risk marker due to its association with high blood pressure via its key role in salt and water homeostasis and hence blood pressure. This study was designed to find out the levels of plasma Brain Natriuretic Peptide in normotensive, pre-hypertensive and newly diagnosed hypertensive and to observe its association with increasing values of blood pressure. This was an cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of Physiology Basic Medical Sciences Institute, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi. Study included 85 adult males, aged between 20-60 years, non- smokers, non- diabetic and having no other chronic illness. Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure values were measured and divided into three groups on the basis of normotensive to hypertensive as stated by Joint National Committee -7. Brain Natriuretic Peptide was assayed by AxSym technology. Brain Natriuretic Peptide developed a positive and statistically significant correlation with both systolic and diastolic blood pressures and was also found out to be significantly raised in prehypertensive group. His study concluded that Brain Natriuretic Peptide is positively related with increasing values of both variables i.e. systolic as well as diastolic blood pressures. It also concluded out Brain Natriuretic Peptide to be significantly elevated in pre-hypertensive stage which may remain increased in sustained hypertension

Evaluation of serum leptin levels during normal pregnancy and in pre-eclampsia

The present study was designed to compare the serum leptin levels in normal pregnancies with those pregnancies which are complicated by pre-eclampsia and to investigate the possibility of leptin being a marker of severity of pre-eclampsia. This was a comparative cross-sectional study, conducted at the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetric, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre [JPMC], Karachi. For this purpose 45 primigravidas with normal pregnancy and 45 primigravidas with pre-eclamptic pregnancy were selected who were in their third trimester All the subjects were of the same maternal age, gestational age, height and weight. Serum leptin levels were determined by immunoenzymometric assay. The study included 90 patients, divided into two groups. The serum leptin levels were found to be elevated in pre-eclamptic group as compared to normal pregnancy. When comparison was made on the basis of severity of pre-eclampsia, the serum leptin levels were found to be increased in severe group as compared to mild group. From this study it was concluded that the levels of serum leptin were higher in pre-eclamptic group when compared to controls during the third trimester of pregnancy indicating the possible role of leptin in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. Also the elevated level of leptin may help in the prediction of the disease and may serve as a marker of severity of pre-eclampsia