Adiposity, Proinflammatory Indices, Apolipoproteins and Antioxidants’ Activities in Relation to the Severity of Hypertension

Background: Hypertension is an important risk for several chronic illnesses, notably heart failure, stroke, chronic renal disease and others. In these chronic disease conditions, promising biochemical parameters could be of immense diagnostic value. Objectives: To investigate adiposity indices, lipid Profile, apolipoproteins, proinflammatory markers and antioxidant status among subgroups of hypertensive patients. Methods: The study involved 150 participants aged 18-65 years, consisting of 50 normotensives as control subjects and 100 hypertensive individuals as the test group. The blood pressures (BP) of the participants were measured. Their body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio were calculated. Serum lipid profile, serum levels of apolipoprotein-A, apolipoprotein-B, glutathione, catalase, superoxide dismutase, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 were also measured. Results: There was a significant increase (p<0.001) in adiposity measures, Apo-B (p<0.001), IL-6 (p<0.001), hs-CRP levels (p<0.001), and dyslipidaemia among hypertensive patients. Apo A (p<0.001), glutathione (p<0.001) and SOD (p<0.001) showed significantly lower levels in the test group. A strong positive correlation was observed between BP and anthropometric profiles (BMI, WC; r = 0.754; p =0.001), serum lipids (TC, triglycerides; r = 0.417; p = 0.01), Apo-B (r = 0.726; p = 0.01) and proinflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6; r = 0.845; p = 0.01). Also, a strong negative but significant correlation existed between BP and antioxidants (GSH, SOD; r = -0.632; p = 0.01), and Apo-A (r = -0.838; p = 0.01). Conclusion: The study showed that adiposity indices, serum lipid parameters, serum apolipoproteins, proinflammatory markers and antioxidants could serve as diagnostic tools for complications of hypertension.