The relationship between plasma viscosity and Body Mass Index in normal young Nigerian adults

Abstract

Plasma viscosity is one of the most important rheological parameters for assessing the health status of an individual. It is influenced by diseases with alteration in plasma protein composition and previous studies have shown that the viscosity of plasma is affected by various factors which includes body weight, fibrinogen concentration, lipoprotein content, etc. The goal of this study was to obtain a relationship between body mass index and relative plasma viscosity in normal young Nigerian adults. A total of 22 normal undergraduate students (8 male and 14 females) of both sexes and between the ages of 18 and 27 years participated in the study. The age, weight and height of each subject was obtained and BMI was 2 estimated by the universal BMI formula (w/h ). Blood pressure was measured and relative plasma viscosity (RPV) was determined by methods  described previously by various researchers. Results obtained showed a  positive statistical significance between BMI and RPV in all subjects and in both sexes. However, there was no statistical significance between the blood pressure indices with relative plasma viscosity in all subjects and in both sexes.