Maternal weight and leptin in breast milk and in breastfed infants.

Abstract

We read with interest the article by Savino et al. in Acta Paediatrica on increased serum leptin levels in infants fed with breast milk compared with formula-fed infants. This is an important observation although it is not clear whether the presence of leptin in breast milk is important for the infant’s growth as the authors have stated. Immunoreactive leptin which is present in human milk has recently been reported and its relationship to infant and maternal adiposity investigated. Leptin concentrations in human milk have not been found to be different in the mothers of obese and non-obese infants who were breastfed exclusively and these findings suggest that milk-borne leptin has no significant effect on adiposity during infancy. (excerpt)