Correlation of Cystatin C with Atherogenic Indices in South Indian Obese Individuals

Obesity is the leading cause for cardiovascular disease in the world. Cystatin C is a novel marker of cardiovascular disease and atherogenic indices which is used as an index for cardiac risk stratification. The objective of the study was to estimate the Cystatin C levels in non-obese and obese individuals aged between 18–39 years and to compare the levels of Cystatin C among these individuals. The study was also done with an objective to know the association of Cystatin C with atherogenic indices.

The subjects were selected from healthy volunteers of Mysore aged between 18–39 years of either sex. They were grouped into two groups based on their BMI. Each group had sample size of 60. Sample were collected in fasting state and analyzed for Total Cholesterol, Triglyceride, LDL-Cholesterol & HDL cholesterol by enzymatic method and Cystatin-C by immune-turbidimetric method using Randox auto-analyzer.

The mean serum Cystatin C level in non obese group was 0.7±0.03 mg/L, and in Obese group 1.15±0.09 mg/L (p value<0.001). Serum Cystatin C showed a positive correlation with serum triglycerides (r=0.7), Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) (r=0.80), TCHOL: HDL (Castelli's Risk Index I) (r=0.71), HDL: LDL (Castelli's Risk Index II) (r=0.70) and Atherogenic coefficient (AC) {(Non HDLc)/HDLc} (r=0.60) respectively and negative correlation with serum HDL (r=-0.52).

Several indices have been derived from lipid profiles to establish an index for predicting the risk of having coronary event. Cystatin C, was strongly correlated with the Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), hence AIP can be used as a better index for screening the preclinical Cardiovascular event in obese individuals as estimation of Cystatin C is cost effective.