To study biochemical markers in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema is considered as a progressive type of respiratory tract disease and is characterized by structural changes such as emphysema, airflow limitation, dynamic hyperinflation, air trapping, and peribronchial fibrotic remodeling of the lungs with significant systemic inflammatory components, induced by chronic exposures to smoking and/or occupational or environmental sources. Materials and Methods: This case control study was conducted on 60 subjects in which 30 were healthy controls and 30 were cases of COPD. Patients with history of respiratory disease other than COPD, cardiac diseases and neuromuscular disease were excluded. 30 healthy age and gender matched non-smoker adults were selected as control group. Results: Unpaired t test was performed and it was observed that Total Cholesterol, Triglyceride, Low Density Lipoprotein, Lactate dehydrogenase levels were significantly higher and serum concentrations of High Density Lipoprotein was decreased significantly in cases as compared to controls. Conclusion: Serum LDH levels are altered in many respiratory diseases but it has not been studied in depth in COPD patients. In view of this we conducted the study and our results shows that patients with COPD have raised serum LDH levels.