Blood Leptin Levels in Hypertension Patients With Abdominal Obesity

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes in blood leptin level of patients with arterial hypertension, who has or has no concomitant abdominal obesity. The study included 87 patients (45 men and 42 women), aged from 32 to 71 years; among them 47 patients had abdominal obesity, and 40 patients had normal body weight. Arterial hypertension stage 2 was diagnosed in 46 (53%) people, stage 3 – in 41 (47%) people, abdominal obesity class 1 was found in 56 (64%) people, class 2 – in 31 (36%) people. Among the patients included in the study, burden of hereditary risk factors was found in 67 patients (77%). The control group included 25 healthy individuals who had normal body weight (body mass index <25 kg/m²), waist circumference <88 cm (in women) and <102 (in men), normal levels of glucose, triglycerides and fasting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The study has found out the patients with arterial hypertension and concomitant obesity have significantly higher levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, significant disorders of lipid, purine, and carbohydrate metabolism, disorders of leptin synthesis; leptin resistance, insulin resistance occurred in significantly higher number of cases than compared with the group of patients with arterial hypertension and normal body weight. The studied groups of patients differed in terms of carbohydrate metabolism: the average fasting blood glucose level was significantly higher in people with arterial hypertension with obesity than in patients with hypertension without obesity. A statistically significant difference remained when comparing with the control group, where the average blood glucose was by 0.9 mmol/l (16.1%) lower than in hypertensive patients with abdominal obesity. A statistically significant increase in the level of blood leptin was found in the group of women suffering from arterial hypertension with abdominal obesity, in comparison with women suffering from arterial hypertension without obesity and the control group of individuals. There has been revealed a reliable positive correlation between the level of blood leptin and the level of blood uric acid.