International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year
: 2015  |  Volume : 4  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 89--93

Assessment of serum trace metals and body mass indices in rural and urban healthy adult population: A pilot study


Pavana Sreenivasan1, Akila Prashant2, Suma M Nataraj2, Prashant Vishwanath2, Saket Verma2, Swetha Chandru3 
1 MBBS Student, JSS Medical College, JSS University, Mysore, India
2 Department of Biochemistry, JSS Medical College, JSS University, Mysore, India
3 Department of Biochemistry, MVJ Medical College and Research Hospital, Hoskote, Karnataka, India

Correspondence Address:
Akila Prashant
Department of Biochemistry, JSS Medical College, JSS University, Mysore, Karnataka
India

Background: Limited community-based data are available on the serum zinc and copper levels and factors affecting their levels in the adult healthy population of rural and urban India. Hence, the present study is conducted to evaluate and compare the serum levels of zinc and copper with body mass indices (BMI) in rural and urban healthy adult population. Materials and Methods: Fifty subjects each from the rural and urban population in the age group of 20-40 years were recruited for the study. Subjects having past medical histories of major diseases and with acute infections were excluded. Their anthropometric measurements such as height, weight, hip, and waist circumference were measured, and the BMI calculated. Venous samples collected from them were used to determine the levels of zinc and copper. Results: Both the subject groups had optimum levels of zinc, but the urban subjects were deficient in copper. The levels of serum zinc were higher in the urban population while the levels of copper were higher in the rural population. In addition, the levels of serum zinc and copper were negatively correlated with each other but were not statistically significant. Considering each of the population individually, there was no gender wise difference between the serum zinc and copper levels and were almost the same. The BMI had a strong positive correlation with the serum zinc levels in the rural population (P = 0.026). However, it did not have any correlation with the copper levels. Conclusion: Our study brought out the association between serum zinc levels and BMI and the fact that serum zinc levels were higher in the urban population and copper levels in the rural population. Emphasis on the diet rich in these trace elements can help in maintaining adequate and balanced levels of zinc and copper.


How to cite this article:
Sreenivasan P, Prashant A, Nataraj SM, Vishwanath P, Verma S, Chandru S. Assessment of serum trace metals and body mass indices in rural and urban healthy adult population: A pilot study.Int J Health Allied Sci 2015;4:89-93


How to cite this URL:
Sreenivasan P, Prashant A, Nataraj SM, Vishwanath P, Verma S, Chandru S. Assessment of serum trace metals and body mass indices in rural and urban healthy adult population: A pilot study. Int J Health Allied Sci [serial online] 2015 [cited 2024 Mar 29 ];4:89-93
Available from: https://www.ijhas.in/article.asp?issn=2278-344X;year=2015;volume=4;issue=2;spage=89;epage=93;aulast=Sreenivasan;type=0