DOI: https://doi.org/10.53350/pjmhs22165166 ORIGINAL ARTICLE 166 P J M H S Vol. 16, No. 05, May 2022 Relation between BMI, Total Leukocyte count and C Reactive Protein in Preeclampsia ZAIMA ALI 1 , SAIMA ZAKI 2 , ATIQA KHALID 3 , SADIA AHMAD 4 , UZMA ZAFAR 5 , SHAHEENA NAZ 6 1,3,5 Dept. of Physiology, Lahore Medical and Dental College, 2,4 Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, 6 Dept. of Physiology, Avicenna Medical College Correspondence to Prof. Dr. Zaima Ali, Email: zaima.ali@hotmail.com, ORCID: 0000-0003-1509-3396, Phone: +92324 4215272 ABSTRACT Aim: To check the correlation of Body Mass Index (BMI) with Total Leukocyte count (TLC) and C Reactive Protein (CRP) levels in preeclamptic and normotensive pregnant women. Methods: It was a comparative cross sectional study with 120 participants divided into two groups with 60 diagnosed cases of preeclampsia and 60 healthy pregnant women with normal blood pressure. The samples were collected in the third trimester of pregnancy. All the participants were in the range of 20-40 years of age and had a BMI within 18-25kg/m 2 . Results: TLC and BMI were significantly high in the preeclamptic group (p value <0.001). BMI correlated positively with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p value <0.05). A positive correlation at a significant p value of < 0.05 was observed between BMI and CRP levels. Moreover, BMI correlated with TLC at a statisticaly significant level (p value < 0.05). Conclusion: The study concludes that BMI is related to CRP levels as well as TLC in pregnancies complicated with PE. High BMI in the preeclamptic group highlights the role of adipose tissue as a source of systemic inflammation. In addition to placental dysfunction adipose tissue might contribute to the systemic inflammation due to superfluous production of inflammatory mediators. Keywords: BMI, C reactive protein, leukocyte count INTRODUCTION Preeclampsia (PE) is a complex complication of pregnancy characterized by hypertension and proteinuria commencing at >20 weeks of gestation 1 . The pathogenesis of this disorder is multifactorial with contribution of a number of risk factors e.g. history of PE, diabetes, null parity, twin pregnancy, fetal sex, chronic hypertension, high Body Mass Index (BMI) etc 2 . Whatever the cause, generalized maternal systemic inflammation remains the hallmark of PE 3 and release of proinflammatory cytokines results in endothelial injury along with activation of neutrophils and coagulation 4 . High BMI and excessive adiposity have been linked with PE and increase in maternal weight has been related with progressive risk of the disorder 5 . Similar to PE, widespread systemic inflammation has been reported in obesity 6 . C reactive protein (CRP) is a marker of inflammation and elevated levels have been reported in PE as well as obesity 7,8 . Moreover, a positive correlation has been reported between BMI and Total leukocyte count (TLC). 9 The aim of this study was to check the relation of BMI with TLC and CRP levels in PE. METHODS AND MATERIALS This cross sectional observational study was conducted in the Department of Physiology at Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex, Lahore. Study population comprised of 120 patients divided into two groups with 60 normotensive and 60 preeclamptic women. All the participants were in the third gestational period and the age was between 20-40 years. Women with history of smoking, diabetes mellitus, renal disorders, inflammatory disease of bowel, hypertension, cardiovascular illness (e.g., ischemic heart disease) and symptomatic infections (bacterial and viral) were excluded. The study was approved by the Ethical Review Board and all the participants signed written consent. Blood pressure and BMI were recorded. Aseptic measures were used to collect 3cc blood. TLC was calculated by automated hemoanalyzer. C reactive protein levels were estimated by commercial ELISA-based kits (manufactured by Bio check Inc. Foster city). Data were entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 20.0. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Received on 14-10-2021 Accepted on 23-04-2022 RESULTS The cliniclal charrecterstics of the participants have been reported earlier along with CRP levels. 8 Total leukocyte count and BMI were higher in the preeclamptic group as were the CRP levels (p value <0.001). BMI correlated positively with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP,DBP) as shown in Fig. 1 and 2 respectively. A positive correlation at a significant p value of < 0.05 was observed between BMI and CRP levels (Fig. 3). Moreover, BMI correlated with TLC at a statisticaly significant level (p value < 0.05) as shown in Fig. 4. Figure 1: Correlation of BMI with SBP, ρ = 0.31, p < 0.05. (Spearman's rank correlation test showing positive correlation between BMI and SBP). Body Mass Index (BMI), Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) Figure 2: Correlation of BMI with DBP, ρ = 0.35, p < 0.01. (Spearman's rank correlation test showing positive correlation between BMI and DBP). Body Mass Index (BMI), Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP)