| Leptin Levels in Cord Blood : Relations to Birth Weight , Preeclampsia , Fetal Sex , Maternal Obesity and Gestational Weeks on Delivery. |
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Y G Lim, Y H Jeon, E S Song, S K Koh, M H Im, B I Lee |
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| Abstract |
OBJECTIVE
Leptin is a 16-kD protein encoded by the ob/ob gene and produced mainly by adipocytes. Leptin signals the amount of fat stored in the body to the brain and affects food intake, energy expenditure, and thermogenesis to maintain a constant amount of stored body fat. In pregnancy, it was demonstrated that leptin is produced by non-adipose cell line, i.e. by placental trophoblasts as well as fetal adipocytes. In this study, we investigated the effect of birth weight, fetal sex, preeclampsia, maternal body mass index[BMI] on cord blood leptin concentrations. METHODS: We determined serum leptin levels using radioimmunoassay[RIA] in cord veins of 115 pregnant women that included 28 preeclampsia. Fetal sex were 63 male and 52 female. RESULTS: Cord leptin levels were significantly correlated with birth weight in multivariate analysis controlling potential confounders[gamma= 0.6125, P< 0.001 ]. Leptin levels in female fetus[ 7.35+/-5.03 ng/mL ] were significantly elevated than male fetus[ 5.37+/-4.64 ng/mL ][ gamma= 0.3849, P< 0.001 ], independent of obesity. But preeclampsia, maternal BMI, and gestational weeks on delivery had no significant effect on cord blood leptin levels[ preeclampsia: gamma= -0.006, P = 0.950, maternal BMI: gamma= 0.1732, P = 0.069, gestational weeks on delivery: gamma= -0.1132, P = 0.105, respectively ]. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the effect of fetal birth weight and sex on cord leptin level was more pronounced than utero-placental and maternal effect. |
| Key Words:
Leptin, Birth weight, Fetal sex, Preeclampsia, Maternal BMI, Gestational weeks on delivery |
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