Suhad M Bahijri
King Abdulaziz University, KSA
Title: Gamma Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) and Highly sensitive C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) as emerging predictors of cardiovascular risk in Saudi type-2 diabetic patients
Biography
Biography: Suhad M Bahijri
Abstract
Most type-2 diabetes (T2DM) Saudi patients remain uncontrolled, thus increasing their risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to investigate relationship between known factors associated with increased CVD risk, such as glycaemic control, components of metabolic syndrome (MS) and novel possible predictors of CVD risk namely: Serum levels of γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in Saudi T2DM patients. 71 men and 82 women were recruited for the study. Anthropometric measurements and blood pressure (BP) were taken. Treatment plan was recorded. Fasting blood samples were obtained to measure glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), lipids profile, highly sensitive (hs)-CRP and GGT. Higher mean GGT was associated with poor glycemic control, dyslipidemia, hypertension and abdominal obesity. GGT correlated significantly (P<0.05) directly with triglycerides in men (r=0.401) and Diastolic BP (r=0.279 for men, r= 0.194, for women), but inversely with high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (r=-0.298 for men, r=-0.171 for women). hs-CRP correlated with waist circumference (P<0.05, r=0.312, for men, r=0.305, for women), with a higher mean being found in men with poor glycemic control (P=0.015), hypertensive women (P=0.030) and abdominally obese persons (P<0.05). Therefore, it was concluded that since high levels of GGT and hs-CRP are associated with components of MS and poor glycaemic control, indicating increased cardiovascular risk, they should be included in routine monitoring of type-2 diabetic patients as independent risk predictors of CVD risk.