Download PDF
Am J Perinatol 2002; 19(6): 303-310
DOI: 10.1055/s-2002-34462
Copyright © 2002 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel.: +1(212) 584-4662

Preeclampsia Disrupts the Normal Physiology of Leptin

Tugba Gursoy1 , Didem Aliefendioğlu2 , Ayşe Tana Aslan1 , Mehmet Gunduz1 , Ali Haberal3 , Mehmet Senes4 , Fatma Nur Cakmak2 , Yahya Rauf Laleli5
  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Ankara, Turkey
  • 2Department of Neonatology, Ankara, Turkey
  • 3Social Security Ankara Maternity Hospital, Duzen Laboratories, Ankara, Turkey
  • 4Department of Biochemistry, Ankara, Turkey
  • 5Departments Biochemistry and Nuclear Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
01 October 2002 (online)

Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to examine the leptin levels of preeclamptic women and their offspring, to compare them with those of normal pregnant women and to search for a correlation between maternal and fetal plasma leptin levels and their anthropometric characteristics. Twenty-one preeclamptic women and their babies were enrolled into the study. Control group consisted of 21 normal pregnant women and their babies, whose birth weights, gestational ages, and genders match with those of babies born to preeclamptic women. Median maternal leptin concentrations of the preeclamptic group (15.3 ng/mL) were significantly higher (p = 0.03) than the control group (10.4 ng/mL). However, fetal plasma leptin concentrations were not different (p = 0.06) between the two groups. Fetal plasma leptin levels were correlated with birth weight, length, body mass index, gestational age, and fetal hematocrit levels in the control group. However, no correlation between leptin levels and these parameters was found in the preeclamptic group. Therefore, preeclampsia may be thought to disrupt normal leptin physiology.

KEYWORDS

Leptin - preeclampsia - newborn

REFERENCES

  • 1 Zuspan F P, Samuels P. Preventing preeclampsia.  N Engl J Med . 1993;  329 1265-1266
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Roberts J M, Redman C W. Pre-eclampsia: more than pregnancy induced hypertension.  Lancet . 1993;  341 1447-1451
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Mantzoros C S, Moschos S J. Leptin: in search of role(s) in human physiology and pathophysiology.  Clin Endocrinol . 1998;  49 551-567
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Sinha M K. Human leptin: the hormone of adipose tissue.  Eur J Endocrinol . 1997;  136 461-464
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Caro J F, Sinha M K, Kolaczynski J W, Zhang P L, Considine R V. Leptin: the tale of an obesity gene.  Diabetes . 1996;  45 1455-1462
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Kokot F, Wiecek A, Adamczak M. Pathophysiological role of leptin in patients with chronic renal failure, in kidney transplant patients, in patients with essential hypertension, and in pregnant women with preeclampsia.  Artif Organs . 1999;  23 70-74
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Mise H, Sagawa N, Matsumoto T. Augmented placental production of leptin in preeclampsia: possible involvement of placental hypoxia.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1998;  83 3225-3229
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Senaris R, Garcia-Caballero T, Casabiell X. Synthesis of leptin in human placenta.  Endocrinology . 1997;  138 4501-4504
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Sivan E, Lin W M, Homko C J, Reece E A, Boden G. Leptin is present in human cord blood.  Diabetes . 1997;  46 917-919
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Hassink S G, de Lancey F, Sheslow D V. Placental leptin: an important new growth factor in intrauterine and neonatal development?.  Pediatrics . 1997;  100 E1
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Shekhawat P S, Garland J S, Shivpuri C. Neonatal cord blood leptin: its relation to birth weight, body mass index, maternal diabetes and steroids.  Pediatr Res . 1998;  43 338-343
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Davey D A, MacGillivray I. The classification and definition of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.  Am J Obstet Gynecol . 1988;  158 892-898
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Schiff E, Friedman S A, Baumann P, Sibai B M, Romero R. Tumor necrosis factor-α in pregnancies associated with preeclampsia and small-for-gestational-age newborns.  Am J Obstet Gynecol . 1994;  170 1224-1229
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Baumann H, Morella K K, White D W. The full length leptin receptor has signalling capabilities of interleukin 6-type cytokine receptors.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 1996;  93 8374-8378
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 15 Sierra-Honigmann M R, Nath A K, Murakami C. Biological action of leptin as an angiogenic factor.  Science . 1998;  281 1683-1686
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 16 El-Salahy E M, Ahmed M I, El-Gharieb A, Tawfik H. New scope in angiogenesis: role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), NO, lipid peroxidation, and vitamin E in the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia among Egyptian females.  Clin Biochem . 2001;  34 323-329
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 Eskenazi B, Fenster L, Sidney S. A multivariate analysis of risk factors for preeclampsia.  JAMA . 1991;  266 237-241
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Butte N F, Hopkinson J M, Nicolson M A. Leptin in human reproduction: serum leptin levels in pregnant and lactating women.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1997;  82 585-589
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Schubring C, Englaro P, Siebler T. Longitudinal analysis of maternal serum leptin levels during pregnancy, at birth and up to six weeks after birth: relation to body mass index, skinfolds, sex steroids and umbilical cord leptin levels.  Horm Res . 1998;  50 276-283
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 Walker J J. Pre-eclampsia.  Lancet . 2000;  356 1260-1265
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Sattar N, Greer I A, Pirwani I, Gibson J, Wallace A M. Leptin levels in pregnancy: marker for fat accumulation and mobilization?.  Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand . 1998;  77 278-283
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Anim-Nyame N, Sooranna S R, Steer P J, Johnson M R. Longitudinal analysis of maternal plasma leptin concentrations during normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia.  Hum Reprod . 2000;  15 2033-2036
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Dötsch J, Nusken K D, Knerr I, Kirschbaum M, Repp R, Rascher W. Leptin and neuropeptide Y gene expression in human placenta: ontogeny and evidence for similarities to hypothalamic regulation.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1999;  84 2755-2758
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Cioffi J A, Shafer A W, Zupancic T J. Novel B219/OB receptor isoforms: possible role of leptin in hematopoiesis and reproduction.  Nat Med . 1996;  2 585-589
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 25 Mikhail A A, Beck E X, Shafer A. Leptin stimulates fetal and adult erythroid and myeloid development.  Blood . 1997;  89 1507-1512
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 26 Kokot F, Ulman I, Wiecek A, Irzyniec T, Ulman J. Concentrations of leptin and neuropeptide Y in maternal plasma, umbilical cord blood and in amniotic fluid in pregnant women with EPH-gestosis.  Arch Immunol Ther Exp . 1998;  46 311-316
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 27 Hytinantti T, Koistinen H A, Koivisto V A, Karonen S L, Rutanen E M, Andersson S. Increased leptin concentration in preterm infants of pre-eclamptic mothers.  Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed . 2000;  83 F13-F16
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 28 McCarthy J F, Misra D N, Roberts J M. Maternal plasma leptin is increased in preeclampsia and positively correlates with fetal cord concentration.  Am J Obstet Gynecol . 1999;  180 731-736
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 29 Matsuda J, Yokota I, Iida M. Serum leptin concentration in cord blood: relationship to birth weight and gender.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1997;  82 1642-1644
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 30 Tome M A, Lage M, Camina J P, Garcia-Mayor R V, Dieguez C, Casanueva F F. Sex-based differences in serum leptin concentrations from umbilical cord blood at delivery.  Eur J Endocrinol . 1997;  137 655-658
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 31 Harigaya A, Nagashima K, Nako Y, Morikawa A. Relationship between concentration of serum leptin and fetal growth.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1997;  82 3281-3284
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 32 Marchini G, Fried G, Ostlund E, Hagenas L. Plasma leptin in infants: relations to birth weight and weight loss.  Pediatrics . 1998;  101 429-432
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 33 Matsuda J, Yokota I, Iida M. Dynamic changes in serum leptin cocentrations during the fetal and neonatal periods.  Pediatr Res . 1999;  45 71-75
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 34 Tarquini B, Tarquini R, Perfetto F, Cornelissen G, Halberg F. Genetic and enviromental influences on human cord blood leptin concentrations.  Pediatrics . 1999;  103 998-1006
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 35 Ertl T, Funke S, Sarkany I. Postnatal changes of leptin levels in full-term and preterm neonates: their relation to intrauterine growth, gender and testosterone.  Biol Neonate . 1999;  75 167-176
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar