Methods
This cross-sectional study was conducted among patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICCU) King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from March 2019-February, 2020. The patients were selected with the help of a non-probability convenience sampling technique. Blood samples and other data were collected from 100 adult patients (88 males and 12 females) admitted due to MI (age, 40–60 years) and from 40 healthy adult individuals (24 males and 16 females) who were matched with the patients in terms of their age and BMI and selected from the general population. Patients who had liver diseases, any type of cancer, endocrinal problems, such as thyroid disorders, Cushing syndrome, and others, were excluded. This study received the ethical approval of the ethical committee of KAUH (Ref No. 369-19). Blood samples and other data were collected after the patients’ written consent was obtained.
Venous blood (5 ml) was collected in the morning after overnight fasting, and the serum fraction was separated by centrifugation. The separated serum fraction was maintained at -80°C for the measurement of biochemical variables. The serum IL-6 and hs-CRP levels were measured by ELISA kits provided by Bio-Techne (R and D Systems, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) and Beijing Mesochem Technology Co. Ltd.(Beijing, China), respectively. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), HbA1c, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDLc, and LDLc were also measured using commercially available kits on an auto-analyzer (Roche Modular P-800, Germany).
The serum parameters (quantitative data) are presented as mean and SD, while the qualitative data are reported as frequency and percentage. Shapiro-Wilk test indicated that data was not normally distributed (p<0.005). Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the variance between two groups and Spearman correlation for finding the hs-CRP and IL-6 correlation with the baseline clinical and biochemical characteristics. SPSS version 26.0 was employed for the data analysis. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.