Is Body Mass Index an Important Determinant in Screening Serum Amylase Level?

Abstract

Amylase enzyme is an enzyme involved with digestion of carbohydrates. Unusual levels of serum amylase accompany with medical complications. Determination of serum amylase level is not done routinely in the medical laboratories and it is recommended for the patients diagnosed with acute and chronic pancreatitis at its severe stage. Thus, screening of serum amylase levels in early stages has a great importance. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between serum amylase level and Body Mass Index (BMI). Healthy individuals of 120 belonged to 22-35 years were recruited to the study. BMI calculation was done according to the standard protocol. The serum amylase level was determined by MISPA VIVA semi-automated Clinical Chemistry Analyzer. The minimum and maximum serum amylase levels of the study population were 15.6 and 132.19 U/L, respectively. The mean serum amylase level of females was 72.35 U/L and in males, 63.28 U/L. The mean serum amylase enzyme level in underweight, normal, overweight and obese groups were 69.32, 69.30, 70.25 and 70.28 U/L, respectively. In males, the mean serum amylase enzyme levels in same BMI categories were 63.30, 48.82, 51.32 and 80.06 U/L, respectively and in females, 70.24, 74.42, 81.20 and 62.79 o U/L, respectively. Results showed that serum amylase enzyme level was significantly higher in females compared to males (p=0.042). There was no significant linear correlation between serum amylase enzyme level and BMI in both males (r=0.204, p=0.248) and females (r=-0.046, p=0.671) of the study population.