COMPARISON OF URIC ACID LEVELS IN FIRST DEGREE RELATIVES OF ISCHAEMIC HEART DISEASE PATIENTS AND NORMAL POPULATION

Introduction: Worldwide ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is increasing as a major cause of morbi-dity and mortality. There is an increasing list of established and evolving risk factors associated with the development of IHD. Uric acid is one of the modifiable risk factor which can be controlled by dietary modification. Better control of uric acid levels can delay the development of IHD in first degree relatives (FDRs) of IHD patients. Aim of this study was to assess serum uric acid levels independent of other established risk factors in FDRs of IHD patients and in normal subjects. It was a cross sectional study conducted in Department of Chemical Pathology, Sheikh Zayed Hospital (SZH), Lahore from January 2008 to January 2009. Materials and Methods: Seventy five first degree relatives of IHD patients were selected. These were the attendants of the patients coming to the cardiology OPD and patients admitted to Coro-nary Care Unit (CCU), SZH Lahore. An equal number of subjects were selected as a control group who had no family history of IHD. After a detailed clinical history and physical examination, fasting blood samples were collected. Blood glucose, lipid profile and serum uric acid levels were estimated. Results and Conclusion: Uric acid levels were found to be higher in FDRs as compared to normal subjects. Further the values were higher in those with an increase in incidence of IHD in the family.