Comparison of Serum Albumin and Bilirubin among Obese and Non-obese Adults.

Abstract

Obesity is a significant global health concern and WHO points out that 1 in 3 people globally are clinically obese. Obesity is a condition of having an excessive amount of body fat and is linked with several health disorders that include metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases as well as liver diseases. Serum albumin and bilirubin are some of the biochemical markers used to diagnose and treat various health-related conditions. Hence, the relationship between obesity and these serum markers has not been well established and can be described as complex. Although obesity affects the liver, it is important to examine the effect of obesity on serum albumin and bilirubin status compared to non-obese subjects. This study aims to assess serum albumin and bilirubin concentrations in obese and non-obese adults and to compare them with non-obese adults. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry, Mymensingh Medical College, Mymensingh, Bangladesh in collaboration with the Department of Endocrinology and Medicine, Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Mymensingh, Bangladesh from July 2023 to June 2024. The subjects were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria by purposive non-random sampling. A total of 200 participants took part in this study. Out of them, 100 were selected as case (obese adults) and another 100 non-obese adults were selected as control. In this study, serum albumin and bilirubin levels were measured for analytical study. All the values were expressed as mean±SD. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS Windows package version 26.0. The statistical significance of the difference between the case and control was calculated using Student's unpaired 't' test. Pearson's correlation is used to determine the level of significance and to see the correlation of BMI with these parameters. After careful evaluation, the mean±SD values of serum albumin were 3.51±0.59 g/dl and 4.12±0.48 g/dl in case and control groups respectively and mean±SD values of serum bilirubin were 0.38±0.18 mg/dl and 0.57±0.16 mg/dl in case and control group respectively. This study revealed that mean serum albumin and bilirubin levels were significantly decreased in obese adults. There is a significant negative correlation found between BMI with serum albumin and bilirubin levels. Analyzing the findings of this cross-sectional study, significant alterations in serum albumin and bilirubin levels were observed among obese adults.