Comparative study of ischemia modified albumin and nitric oxide in hyperthyroidism

Abstract

Monica Verma, Kiran Dahiya, Veena Singh Ghalaut, Abhishek Soni, Jagjeet Singh, Vasudha Dhupper

Objective: Ischemia modified albumin (IMA) is an altered type of serum albumin that forms under conditions of oxidative stress. Increased IMA has been described as a marker of ischemia reperfusion injury and dysfunction of the endothelial L-arginine/nitric oxide (NO) pathway (affecting NO levels) is a common mechanism by which several cardiovascular risk factors mediate their deleterious effects on the vascular wall. No reports are available in literature to comment on the simultaneous measurement of IMA and NO in hyperthyroidism. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate these levels in newly diagnosed patients of hyperthyroidism. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 50 newly diagnosed hyperthyroid patients and the results were compared with 50 age and sex matched healthy controls. IMA levels and NO were estimated by standard colorimetric methods. Results: NO concentration was found to be significantly low in hyperthyroid patients (6.4 ± 3.8 μmol/L) as compared with control subjects (36.24 ± 7.61 μmol/L) (P < 0.05), while IMA levels were found to be higher in hyperthyroid group (0.662 ± 0.17 ABU) than healthy controls (0.290 ± 0.09 ABU) (P < 0.05). IMA levels were negatively correlated with NO (r = −0.761, P < 0.001) and correlation was highly significant. Conclusion: Increased ischemia modified albumin levels may be a consequence of and cause for decreased nitric oxide levels in hyperthyroidism and this study may help to establish the role of oxidative stress and ischemia reperfusion in the pathogenesis of hyperthyroidism.