Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Background and Objectives: Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is one of the genetic risk factors in the patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The exact number of Iranians suffering from this disease is yet not known. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the deficiency of AAT enzyme in patients suffering from COPD.   Methods: The topical test of AAT serum was conducted on 125 patients affected by COPD who had referred to Ekbatan Hospital of Hamadan in 2007. The diagnoses of COPD in these patients dad been confirmed through history and spirometerty test before and after bronchodilator inhalation and the outcomes had been confirmed based on GOLD regulations. In other words, after separation of serum from blood, the specific antibody of AAT was added to the sample. The AAT serum level was read according to nephelometry measurement and the results were given in g/L. The gathered data were then analyzed using SPSS software program and statistical tests such as T-test and c 2 (p<0.05).   Results: Out of 125 patients, 91 were male and 34 patients were female (2.7/1). The mean age was 63±12 years and the mean AAT serum in the patients was between 0.710g/L and 2.696g/L (mean 1.311±0.364g/L). Almost all of the male patients had history of smoking (91%) and this smoking and its dose (Pack/Year) were significantly related to the severity of COPD. There was no significant relation between plasma levels of AAT and smoking, age or sex. The average age of patients suffering from COPD in rational AAT deficiency was significantly lower. However, the severity of symptoms had no significant difference between patients with normal levels of AAT.   Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, no case of exact deficiency of AAT was found in patients suffering from COPD admitted to Ekbatan Hospital of Hamadan. Regarding geographical location and number of the samples, the possibility of prevalence of this disease in Hamadan is much lower than that of European countries. However, the relative deficiency of AAT (20% in this study) was higher than the amounts obtained from similar studies in European countries.