Mintage Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Sciences (ISSN: 2320-3315)

Author(s): SHAKER MOHAMMED JASIM *1,HUSSEIN RAWAA ABDULKHALEQ

Background:  Leptin,  a  16-kDa  protein  secreted  from  white  adipocytes,  has  been  implicated  inthe  regulation  of  food  intake,  energy  expenditure,  and  whole-body  energy balance in humans, therefore may be a mediator of anorexia associated with acute and chronic inflammation. In all parasitic infections there is loss of appetite and anorexia. Objective:The  aim  of  the  present  study  is  to  analyze  serum  leptin  concentration  in  children  infected  with  intestinal  parasites  (Entamoeba  histolytica\dispare  and  Giardia lamblia)  and compare them with healthy controls. Patients and methods:A total of 70 males and females patients infected with intestinal parasites presentedto the Central Teaching Hospital for Pediatric in Baghdad city -Iraq, during the period from April toSeptember, 2013. The age of patients ranged from5 to 15 years. Thirty healthy parasite-free individuals consider to be a control group. Stool  samples  were  collected  from  patients  for  direct  microscopic  examination,  then  body  weight,  height  and  body  mass  index  (BMI)  were  measured  for  all  patients  and controls. Serum leptin concentrations were detected by immunoenzymometric assay using the DRG Company Leptin ELISA kit. Statistical analysis was made by Chi-Square test using SAS version 9.1. Results:In this study 70 Patients infected with intestinal parasites, 40patients confirmed to be positive for E. histolytica\dispare and 30 patients for G. lamblia. The results showed serum leptin levels were not statistically significant between patient: 2.234±0.13ng/ml and control: 2.171±0.23; p > 0.05, at the same time, highly differences noticed between  two  age  groups  of    patients  with  concentration  of  leptin,  related  to  that  leptin  levels  are  increased  in  aged  parallelingchanges  in  fat  mass.  In  addition,  we  found significant differences between age, weight and BMI with concentration of leptin. but the height of patients were  not statistically significant with concentration of  leptin.Conclusion:We need further investigations with the different parasites for analyze the role of leptin in parasitic infections.