Leptin and cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight persons in young age

 Aim of the study was to investigate the associations of leptin levels with cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight young people.

Material and methods. From a representative sample of the young population of the Oktyabrsky district of Novosibirsk at the age of 25–35  years (636 people), all overweight people (196 persons) and people with normal body weight (control group 197 persons) were chosen for determination of serum leptin (393 people). Study design – case-control. Overweight was determined according to body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2. Leptin levels were determined by immunofluorescence analysis (IFA) using Elisa test systems (Diagnostics Biochem Canada Inc., Canada) on an IFA analyzer Multiscan EX (Finland). For calculations, the median and  interquartile range were used (Me [25; 75]).

Results. Leptin level in the study group with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 was 4 times higher than in the control group (17.0 [8.6; 36.9] and 4.4 [1.5; 13,1] ng/ml, respectively). The indicators of risk factors in leptin content quartiles were analyzed: it was found that in men and women included in leptin Q4the waist circumference, hip circumference, BMI, blood pressure, triglyceride content were more than in Q1; they also showed an increase in the frequency of metabolic syndrome and a decrease in the level of high-density cholesterol. In addition, in men, in contrast to women, leptin Q4 showed an increase in total cholesterol and low-density cholesterol level. According to the ROC analysis, all studied anthropometric parameters reflecting overweight were associated with a high level of blood leptin, and the maximum associations were found between obesity grade II (BMI more than 35 kg/m2) and normal body weight – area under ROC curve 0.91, p < 0.001. The threshold value of the leptin level for detecting MS in men is 6.5 ng/ml, in women 25.8 ng/ml.

Conclusions. Serum leptin levels are associated with cardiometabolic risk factors and metabolic syndrome in young population, and leptin levels above 6.5 ng/ml in men and 25.8 ng/ml in women are characteristic of individuals with metabolic syndrome. 

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