Assessment of Serum Concentration of Ghrelin and Obestatin in Giardia lamblia Infected Patients: A Case Control-Study

Background: Globally, Giardia lamblia is one of the major causes of diarrhea in humans and it is thecommonest reported gastrointestinal parasite. Thus, the present research work aims to investigate theserum concentration of ghrelin and obestatin in patients with giardiasis. Objective: The current study wasdesigned to determine of G. lamblia infection effects on some biomarkers such as ghrelin and obestatin.Methods: The study was conducted on 48 patients infected with G. lamblia and 48 healthy persons, whoattended the general hospital of AL-Hakeem in Najaf city from September to December 2018. The results:The results showed a highly significant decrease (P\u003c0.0001) in serum concentration of ghrelin and a highlysignificant increase (P\u003c0.0001) in serum concentration of obestatin in G. lamblia infected patients (28.85ng/ml ±3.2) and (186.53ng/ml ± 1.56) respectively, in comparison to the control group (81.39ng/ml ± 3.8) and(92.89ng/ml ±2.9) respectively, with a significant positive association between the concentrations of ghrelinand obestatin (r = 0.0954). Conclusion: Ghrelin and obestatin are important physiological biomarkers thatcan support the diagnosis of Giardia lamblia parasite.