Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Leptin may be involved in the regulation of body weight, food intake, and energy expenditure. In view of a possible link between leptin concentrations and diabetes that has been suggested in obese rodents, we investigated the potential relationship between serum leptin concentrations and hyperglycaemia in French patients with morbid obesity. SUBJECTS: Fasting leptin concentrations were measured in 241 morbidly obese patients with various degrees of glucose tolerance in a cross‐sectional study. RESULTS: Fasting serum leptin concentrations did not differ between normoglycaemic (NG, 61.5±24.0 ng/ml) and glucose intolerant morbidly obese subjects (IGT, 56.5±18.5 ng/ml) and were slightly lower in those with controlled diabetes (55.1±30.3 ng/ml, P=0.06 when compared to NG subjects). In contrast, leptin concentrations were 30% lower in patients with poorly controlled diabetes (43.0±22.2 ng/ml, P=0.001 vs NG subjects). Leptin concentrations were negatively correlated with fasting glucose in all groups combined (ρ=−0.24, P=0.0001) and particularly in NIDDM subjects (ρ=0.31, P=0.0054). Although leptin concentrations were higher in women than in men, similar significant correlation with fasting glucose was found when females were analyzed separately. A positive correlation was found with BMI (ρ=0.25, P=0.0001) in all groups. Multivariate analysis revealed that fasting glucose was independently associated with serum leptin concentrations (F=12.5, P=0.0005). Sex, age, BMI, waist/hip ratio, fasting glucose and insulin, total cholesterol and triglycerides, tested in the model, explained 42% of the leptin variability in this population. CONCLUSIONS: Poorly controlled diabetes was accompanied by a significant reduction of serum leptin concentrations in morbidly obese subjects. We suggest that a relative leptin deficiency (lower than expected for the BMI) associated with insulin deficiency in this population might contribute to a vicious cycle maintaining (or even worsening) obesity itself and/or its metabolic complications.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clément, K., Lahlou, N., Ruiz, J. et al. Association of poorly controlled diabetes with low serum leptin in morbid obesity. Int J Obes 21, 556–561 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800440
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800440
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Leptin predicts the development of diabetes in Mauritian men, but not women: a population–based study
International Journal of Obesity (2007)
-
Adiponectin and leptin: Potential tools in the differential diagnosis of pediatric diabetes?
Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (2007)
-
The Eating Inventory and Body Adiposity from Leanness to Massive Obesity: a Study of 2509 Adults
Obesity Research (2004)
-
Leptin: a review of its peripheral actions and interactions
International Journal of Obesity (2002)
-
The Pro115Gln and Pro12Ala PPAR gamma gene mutations in obesity and type 2 diabetes
International Journal of Obesity (2000)