Abstract
Leptin is a protein secreted mainly by the adipocyte in proportion to fat mass. The serum leptin concentration reflects the amount of adipose tissue in the body and has potential role on the fat deposition in the fetus. In the present study, we investigated whether umbilical and maternal serum leptin concentrations correlate with fetal growth. In addition, we determined the relationship between leptin concentration in the maternal and cord blood. We studied 100 newborn infants (48 female and 52 male; gestational age, 34 - 40 weeks) and their mothers at Alzahra hospital in Tabriz city. Serum leptin concentrations were measured by ELISA and linear regression analysis was used to evaluate correlation. In the results, there was no significant correlation between umbilical and maternal leptin concentrations (r = 0.011; p = 0.459) in all study groups. There was a correlation between umbilical leptin concentration and birth weight of newborns (r = 0.278; p = 0.003) and correlation with body mass index (BMI) of the newborns (r = 0.249; p = 0.006). Maternal leptin concentrations correlated with maternal weight and BMI (r = 0.277; p = 0.003, r = 0.290; p = 0.002, respectively). There was no correlation between maternal leptin concentrations and birth weight (r = - 0.162; p = 0.054) and with BMI of the newborns (r = - 0.158; p = 0.058). There was gender difference in leptin concentrations in the newborns (r = 0.331; p = 0.00025) with greater level in females. In conclusion, we have shown that the association between umbilical serum leptin and birth weight in this and other studies suggests a pivotal role of fetal leptin in regulating fetal growth and development.
Highlights
Leptin is 16 kDa protein encoded by the ob gene and produced by adipocytes (Halaas et al, 1995)
Our study showed that leptin levels were less in umbilical cord serum than in maternal serum and this study suggests that leptin of fetus is produced by itself or by placenta
Fetal leptin levels may be involved in fetal development during late pregnancy
Summary
Leptin is 16 kDa protein encoded by the ob gene and produced by adipocytes (Halaas et al, 1995). The concentration of serum leptin is high in obese adults and low in lean adults (Maffei et al, 1995; Considine et al, 1996). The physiological role of leptin in growing children has not been clarified. Modeling of human leptin (Green et al, 1995) indicate that the molecule is a globular protein with a tertiary structure similar to that of helical cytokines, which include IL -2 and growth hormone. The long form of the leptin receptor functions to cytokine receptors and has been detected in the human lung, kidney, liver and skeletal muscle, as well as the heart, placenta, spleen, Afr. J.
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