DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2015.v03i01.077

Pages: 387-391

Obesity is one of the major public health concerns and is a growing epidemic in the present scenario. Recent studies have shown increased association of the medical complications of obesity with gamma glutamyl transferase(GGT) levels. Some studies have also found that obese individuals with high normal serum γ- glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity are associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. Moreover GGT activity in atherosclerotic plaques has also been proved recently. In the present study we propose to establish the correlation of serum GGT levels with atherogenic dyslipidemia in obese individuals. The study included 100 obese subjects and 100 non-obese healthy controls. BMI, waist circumference and blood pressure (BP) were measured as per the standard guidelines. Lipid profile, Fasting blood sugar and GGT levels were assayed in a fasting venous sample using standard kits in an autoanalyzer. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. In this study atherogenic dyslipidemia in obese individuals was evident from their TGL, HDL levels and lipid ratios. The fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C VLDL-C, GGT were significantly increased and HDL-C was decreased in cases compared to controls (p< 0.001). Serum GGT was significantly positively correlated with TC (r: 0.72, p<0.001), TGL (r: 0.662, p<0.001), atherogenic lipid ratios TC/HDL (r: 0.817, p<0.001) and TGL/HDL (r: 0.814, p<0.001)) and negatively correlated with HDL (r: -0.773, p<0.001) in obese individuals (p<0.001). Hence GGT can be considered as an early, reliable and cost-effective marker of atherosclerosis and visceral fat. Further large population prospective cohort studies are needed to consider GGT in screening people at risk for developing atherosclerosis.