Serum butyrylcholinesterase in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a biochemical and bioinformatics approach

Abstract

Abstract Background Butyrylcholinesterase is an enzyme that may serve as a marker of metabolic syndrome. We (a) measured its level in persons with diabetes mellitus, (b) constructed a family tree of the enzyme using nucleotide sequences downloaded from NCBI. Butyrylcholinesterase was estimated colorimetrically using a commercially available kit (Randox Lab, UK). Phylogenetic trees were constructed by distance method (Fitch and Margoliash method) and by maximum parsimony method. Results There was a negative correlation between serum total cholesterol and butyrylcholinesterase (-0.407; p Sus scrofa (M62778) and Oryctolagus cuniculus (M62779) between Fitch and Margoliash, and maximum parsimony methods. Conclusion The level of butyrylcholinesterase enzyme was inversely related to serum cholesterol; dendrogram showed that the structures from evolutionarily close species were placed near each other.

Keywords

• metabolic syndrome
• type 2 diabetes
• dyslipidemia
• phylogenetic tree
• evolutionary distance