Serum Retinol-Binding Protein 4 Levels in Hypertensive and Normotensive Individuals

This cross-sectional study aimed to compare serum Retinol-Binding Protein 4 (RBP4) levels in hypertensive and normotensive non-obese individuals. A total of 41 hypertensive and 41 normotensive subjects aged ≥40 years were enrolled. Hypertension was defined as a blood pressure (BP) of ≥140/90 mmHg, whereas normotension was defined as a BP of <120/80 mmHg in the absence of antihypertensive medication (JNC 8 criteria). Five millilitres of venous blood were collected aseptically, and serum RBP4 was measured using a Human RBP4 ELISA kit. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26 with an independent sample t-test; p ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Forty-six per cent of participants were male, with a mean age of 53.69 ± 9.86 years in the hypertensive and 52.41 ± 6.30 years in the normotensive group. The mean serum RBP4 was significantly higher in the hypertensive group (62.17 ± 28.22 ng/mL) than in the normotensive group (14.70 ± 5.59 ng/mL), suggesting its potential as a biomarker. Key Words: Hypertension, Normotensive, Serum Retinol-binding Protein-4, Cardiovascular diseases.