Introduction: Hypertension and diabetes mellitus affect a large number of patients and can significantly influence their life expectancy. Changes in metabolic and oxidative stress parameters are common in these pathologies, contributing to associated complications. The aim of the study was assessment of relationship between laboratory parameters and their role in evaluation of cardiovascular risk, and possible gender-related differences in the protective factors.
Material and methods: Blood samples were collected from hypertensive patients with/without diabetes mellitus admitted to the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Clinic in Tîrgu Mureș and controls without these pathologies. Biochemical analyses were performed on Konelab analyzer (glycemia, lipid profile, kidney function tests, zinc, hsCRP). Oxidative stress markers, such as serum malondialdehyde (MDA), oxidized (GSSG) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were evaluated using an HPLC-UV/VIS technique at GEP UMPhST. Statistical analysis was performed by GraphPad InStat3.
Results: Mean age of hypertensive patients (n=131) was 69.44 ± 9.02 years, 45.8% males, 31.3% being diabetics. 74.1% of the studied patients had zinc deficiency, 19.8% presented slightly elevated hsCRP. The control group included 24 nonhypertensive/nondiabetic patients of similar age. Average GSH was significantly lower (p=0.0002) in hypertensive patients, 1.89 ± 0.82 µg/ml, compared to the control group (3.23 ± 0.49 µg/ml), and no correlation could be observed between GSH and MDA values. GSH concentration was significantly higher in males (p=0.0395) and HDL-cholesterol significantly higher in females (p=0.0132). A negative correlation was observed between serum triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol concentration.
Conclusions: Gender differences are present in the level of protective factors against cardiovascular diseases, while oxidative stress is intensified in hypertensive/diabetic patients.
