FIBRINOGEN CONCENTRATION IN THE BLOOD OF OBESE FEMALES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

Obesity is one of the most serious public health problems and a leading preventable cause of death worldwide. Obesity is an independent cardiovascular risk factor, as well as predisposing to type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Obese subjects are at risk to develop coronary heart diseases (CHD) due to high levels of fibrinogen to increased platelets aggregation, increased blood viscosity, increased thrombus, increased fibrin formation which ultimately leads to disturbances in the haemostatic and fibrinolytic system. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of obesity on fibrinogen concentration in blood of obese females. This study was conducted in University of Benin, Benin City. Thirty obese female subjects and 30 normal weights female subjects attending the University of Benin was selected for the study. Fibrinogen was measured using Plasma fibrinogen concentration (Ingram, 1952) method. Data was analysed using pad statistical software version 8.1 and results analysed were presented in mean +/- SEM. Student t-test. The P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.The result we obtained shown that there is a strong linear relationship between fibrinogen and obesity, estimated by BMI which confirmed a significantly higher fibrinogen level in obese individuals as compared to normal individuals. Fibrinogen plays a major role in platelet aggregation in the final step of coagulation cascade. It is a major determinant of plasma viscosity, erythrocyte aggregation and formation of fibrin. Increased level of fibrinogen seen in obesity is associated with increased risk of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), myocardial and other cardiovascular events.