2012 Volume 51 Issue 6 Pages 553-557
Objective Visfatin is a peptide that is secreted from visceral fat. It has been reported to be associated with inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. However, little is known about its function in hypertension. Therefore the aim of the present study was to evaluate visfatin levels in patients with hypertension.
Methods We studied forty-six newly diagnosed hypertensive patients and 30 healthy participants. In accordance with blood pressure levels reported in the JNC 7 guidelines, hypertensive patients were divided into 2 groups: stage 1 and stage 2. The control group was divided into 2 groups: normal and prehypertensive. Blood pressure (BP) measurements were obtained from each patient. Serum lipid profile, glucose and visfatin levels were measured.
Results The levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), BMI, waist circumference were significantly higher in the patient group than those in control subjects (p<0.05). The mean visfatin level was significantly higher in hypertensive patients. In the prehypertensive group, the serum visfatin levels were also significantly higher than in participants with normal blood pressure (p:0.043). There was a significantly positive correlation with visfatin and systolic BP, diastolic BP.
Conclusion We consider that visfatin may be a marker which may be used to illustrate damage even in prehypertensive stage caused by isolated essential HT.
