Abstract :
Background: Hypertension is a major public health problem and leads to severe complications such as
cardiovascular disease, stroke, renal and other vascular complications. YKL-40 is a human glycoprotein
related to chitinase protein family encoded by chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) gene. Recently many studies
reported that YKL-40 play a role in the progression of atherosclerosis and other diseases. So, in this view
the present study focused to evaluate YKL-40 levels and to find out the association with C- reactive protein
(CRP) and uricacid in hypertensive patients.
Objectives : The present study was to assess YKL-40 levels in hypertensive patients compared with healthy
volunteers and to correlate these levels with C- Reactive protein and uricacid.
Materials and Methods: Fifty hypertensive patients with 35 to 50 years age group were selected according
to JNC-8 for this study and 50 healthy volunteers age matched subjects were selected as controls. Serum
YKL-40 and CRP was estimated by ELISA, uric acid and other routine investigations were carried out by
ERBA EM-360 fully automated analyzer.
Results: YKL-40, CRP, uricacid levels were significantly increased in hypertensive patients compared with
healthy volunteers. Serum YKL-40 levels positively correlated with CRP Uricacid, triglycerides, LDL,
systolic blood pressure and negative correlation with HDL cholesterol levels.
Conclusion: YKL-40 is considered as potential diagnostic marker for the assessment of vascular
complications in hypertension. Regular monitoring might be useful for reduction of vascular complications
in hypertensive patients. Further longitudinal studies are required for confirm it.
Keyword :
Hypertension, YKL-40, C- reactive protein (CRP), Uric acid.