Kanmani Karthikkeyan¹,
Vidhya A²,
Sugantha Priya S³,
Latha K⁴
Deepa G⁵
¹Associate Professor,
²Assistant Professor,
³Post Graduate
⁴Assistant Professor
⁵Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology,
Stanley Medical College,
Chennai – 600 001,
Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

• Background: Obesity is defined as an abnormal accumulation of adipose tissue due to increase in number and size of the fat cells or both. It is a major public health problem with increasing risk of developing Hypertension, Type 2 Diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, Stroke, Cancers, etc. Increased platelet activity with higher mean platelet volume is noted with elevated levels of inflammatory mediators in obesity.
• Aim: To determine the mean platelet volume in obese young adults.
• Materials and Methods: Of the 60 participants, 30 were obese and 30 were healthy subjects with normal BMI, in the age group of 18 to 35 years recruited from the Non Communicable Disease Outpatient Department, Chennai. Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC) and Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) were the obesity indices used to assess the obesity. Mean platelet volume (MPV) was estimated in them.
• Results: The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The study groups were with the mean age of 23.87 + 3.61, mean BMI of 29.14+ 2.63, mean WC of 96.48+5.98, mean WHR of 0.91+ 0.23, mean MPV of 9.58 +1.88. MPV was significantly higher (p< 0.05) among the obese individuals. Positive correlation was observed between the mean platelet volume and all the obesity indices and was statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Conclusion: Mean platelet volume was higher among the obese individuals. This shows that the obese individuals are at the risk for cardiovascular complication due to increased platelet activation. Hence early diagnosis and appropriate interventions may prevent adverse cardiac events in obese individuals.

Keywords: diabetes, hypertension, mean platelet volume, obesity, stroke