Endocrine Profile of Microcephaly patients from central Punjab

Abstract

Microcephaly is the reduction in occipito-frontal circumference i.e., <2 SD of normal. In this condition there is a smaller brain size and neurodeficiency is usually present. A lot of research has been done to find the genetic causes of microcephaly, scarce literature is present to show any association between microcephaly, BMI and endocrine profile. The main aim of this study was to compare the BMI and endocrine profile (including leptin, cortisol, GH and TSH) of patients having microcephaly with age matched normal siblings served as controls. BMI of microcephaly patients was 17.9±1.0 and of controls it was 25.4±2.3, significant association (P=0.03) was found between BMI and microcephaly. Although mean cortisol levels were above normal range in subjects with microcephaly as compared to age matched controls (29.5±3.3 vs 23.7±6.8), the difference between cortisol concentrations in microcephaly patients and normal siblings was not found statistically significant. The study showed that no association is present between BMI and microcephaly but no significant association was seen between leptin, cortisol, GH and TSH and microcephaly.