The Relation of Leptin and Soluble Leptin Receptor Levels with Metabolic and Clinical Parameters in Obese and Healthy Children

Publication date: Available online 2 April 2014 Source:Peptides

Author(s): Gonul Catli , Ahmet Anik , Hale Ünver Tuhan , Tuncay Küme , Ece Bober , Ayhan Abaci

The Relation of Leptin and Soluble Leptin Receptor Levels with Metabolic and Clinical Parameters in Obese and Healthy Children Objective We investigated the relation of serum leptin, soluble leptin receptor (sLR) and free leptin index (FLI) with metabolic and anthropometric parameters in obese and healthy children. Methods Height, weight, waist circumference (WC), fasting serum glucose, insulin, lipid profile, leptin and sLR levels of 35 obese children and 36 healthy children were measured and FLI was calculated as the ratio of leptin to sLR. Results In obese children, serum leptin and FLI were found significantly higher, while sLR level was significantly lower than the healthy children. Comparison of obese children regarding the insulin resistance showed significantly higher serum leptin and FLI in the insulin resistant group; however sLR level was not different between the insulin resistant and non-resistant obese children. In obese children, sLR was not correlated with any of the metabolic parameters except total cholesterol, while FLI was significantly and positively correlated with BMI, WC, TC, fasting insulin, and HOMA-IR. However, regression analysis confirmed that the HOMA-IR was the only independent variable significantly correlated with FLI in obese children. Conclusions Findings of this study suggest that in obese children and adolescents i) serum leptin and FLI were found significantly higher, while sLR level was significantly lower than the healthy children, ii) increased FLI might be a compensatory mechanism for increasing leptin effect in peripheral tissue, iii) FLI is a more accurate marker to evaluate leptin resistance than leptin or sLR alone and, iv) increased FLI may contribute toward the development of hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance.