Abstract
AIM: To evaluate whether fat distribution plays a role in determining serum leptin concentrations.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: One-hundred and forty-seven obese patients, 77 males and 70 females, aged 45.1±13.2 y (mean±s.d.; range 21–73 y), with body mass index (BMI) ranging from 30 to 55 kg/m2 (mean 42.3±5.9). Ultrasound assessment of the thickness of subcutaneous and preperitoneal fat was carried out and calculation of their ratio as abdominal fat index (AFI), waist–hip ratio (WHR), body composition by bioelectrical impedance to evaluate the percentage of fat mass (FM%) and total amount of fat (FMKg) were also determined. Plasma leptin was measured by radio immuno assay (RIA).
RESULTS: In the whole group of patients, serum leptin concentrations were 37.2±18.4 ng/ml (range 6–101.3 ng/ml); in spite of BMI values not being significantly different, women had leptin values significantly higher (47.4±17.4 ng/ml) (P<0.01) than males (28.1±15.1 ng/ml), also after correction for fat mass. The mean thickness of abdominal subcutaneous fat was 33.7±12.9 mm and it was significantly (P<0.001) higher in female (40.9±10.6 mm) than in male (27.1±11.2 mm) patients; preperitoneal thickness was 22.9±7.1 mm, with significantly (P<0.05) higher values in males (24.2±6.8 mm) than in females (21.7±7.3 mm). Accordingly, AFI (in all patients 0.84±0.6) was significantly higher in males (1.09±0.6) than in females (0.56±0.2). In the overall population, leptin concentrations were directly and significantly related to subcutaneous but not preperitoneal fat; they showed a strong inverse relationship with AFI and WHR. When the results were evaluated dividing the patients according to gender, subcutaneous fat thickness showed a stronger association with leptin levels in males than in females, whereas no association was found with preperitoneal fat thickness. Leptin and AFI values were significantly related only in men. WHR values were not correlated with leptin concentrations in either sex. When fat mass was added to the model, subcutaneous fat thickness, AFI and WHR remained independently associated with leptin concentrations. Age and diabetes did not influence these measures.
CONCLUSIONS: Fat distribution contributes to the variability in serum leptin in obese patients. In particular, subcutaneous abdominal fat is a determinant of leptin concentration, also independently of the amount of fat mass, whereas the contribution of preperitoneal visceral fat is not significant.
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
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Couillard C, Mauriege P, Prud'homme D, Nadeau A, Tremblay A, Bouchard C, Despres JP . Plasma leptin concentrations: gender differences and associations with metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease Diabetologia 1997 40: 1178–1184.
Hickey MS, Israel RG, Gardiner SN, Considine RV, McCammon MR, Tyndall GL, Houmard JA, Marks RH, Caro JF . Gender differences in serum leptin levels in humans Biochem Mol Med 1996 59: 1–6.
Nagy TR, Gower BA, Trowbridge CA, Dezenberg C, Shewchuk RM, Goran MI . Effects of gender, ethnicity, body composition, and fat distribution on serum leptin concentrations in children J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997 82: 2148–2152.
Baumgartner RN, Ross RR, Waters DL, Brooks WM, Morley JE, Montoya GD, Garry PJ . Serum leptin in elderly people: associations with sex hormones, insulin, and adipose tissue volumes Obes Res 1999 7: 141–149.
Chapman IM, Wittert GA, Norman RJ . Circulating leptin concentrations in polycystic ovary syndrome: relation to anthropometric and metabolic parameters Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 1997 46: 175–181.
Halleux CM, Servais I, Reul BA, Detry R, Brichard SM . Multihormonal control of ob gene expression and leptin secretion from cultured human visceral adipose tissue: increased responsiveness to glucocorticoids in obesity J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1998 83: 902–910.
Haffner SM, Miettinen H, Mykkanen L, Stern MP . Leptin concentrations are associated with higher proinsulin and insulin concentrations but a lower proinsulin/insulin ratio in non-diabetic subjects Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 899–905.
Lonnqvist F, Wennlund A, Arner P . Relationship between circulating leptin and peripheral fat distribution in obese subjects Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1997 21: 255–260.
Bertin E, Rich N, Schneider N, Larbre H, Marcus C, Durlach V, Leutenegger M . Insulin and body fat distribution have no direct effect on plasma leptin levels in obese Caucasian women with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus Diabetes Metab 1998 24: 229–234.
Solin MS, Ball MJ, Robertson I, de Silva A, Pasco JA, Kotowicz MA, Nicholson GC, Collier GR . Relationship of serum leptin to total and truncal body fat Clin Sci (Colch) 1997 93: 581–584.
Weigle DS, Ganter SL, Kuijper JL, Leonetti DL, Boyko EJ, Fujimoto WY . Effect of regional fat distribution and Prader–Willi syndrome on plasma leptin levels J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997 82: 566–570.
Lonnqvist F, Arner P, Nordfors L, Schalling M . Overexpression of the obese (ob) gene in adipose tissue of human obese subjects Nature Med 1995 1: 950–953.
Takahashi M, Funahashi T, Shimomura I, Miyaoka K, Matsuzawa Y . Plasma leptin levels and body fat distribution Horm Metab Res 1996 28: 751–752.
Vettor R, Vicennati V, Gambineri A, Pagano C, Calzoni F, Pasquali R . Leptin and the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis activity in women with different obesity phenotypes Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1997 21: 708–711.
Haffner SM, Gingerich RL, Nordfors L, Schalling M . Leptin concentrations in relation to overall adiposity and regional body fat distribution in Mexican Americans Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999 20: 950–953.
Dua A, Hennes MI, Hoffmann RG, Maas DL, Krakower GR, Sonnenberg GE, Kissebah AH . Leptin: a significant indicator of total body fat but not of visceral fat and insulin insensitivity in African-American women Diabetes 1996 45: 1635–1637.
Shimizu H, Shimomura Y, Hayashi R, Ohtani K, Sato N, Futawatari T, Mori M . Serum leptin concentration is associated with total body fat mass, but not abdominal fat distribution Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1997 21: 536–541.
Wauters MA, Mertens IL, Considine RV, De Leeuw IH, van Gaal L . Are leptin levels dependent on body fat distribution in obese men and women? Eating Weight Disord 1998 3: 124–130.
Pi-Sunyer FX, Laferrere B, Aronne L, Bray GA . Obesity a modern day epidemic J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999 84: 3–12.
Lefebvre AM, Laville M, Vega N, Riou JP, van Gaal L, Auwerx J, Vidal H . Depot-specific differences in adipose tissue gene expression in lean and obese subjects Diabetes 1998 47: 98–103.
Montague CT, Prins JB, Sanders L, Digby JE, O'Rahilly S . Depot- and sex- specific differences in human leptin mRNA expression: implications for the control of regional fat distribution Diabetes 1997 46: 342–347.
Suzuki R, Watanabe S, Hirai Y, Akiyama K, Nishide T, Matsushima Y, Murayama H, Ohshima H, Shinomiya M, Shirai K . Abdominal wall fat index, estimated by ultrasonography, for assessment of the ratio of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat in the abdomen Am J Med 1993 95: 309–314.
Wiesner G, Vaz M, Collier G, Seals D, Kaye D, Jennings G, Lambert G, Wilkinson D, Esler M . Leptin is released from the human brain: influence of adiposity and gender J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999 84: 2270–2274.
Armellini F, Zamboni M, Robbi R, Todesco T, Rigo L, Bergamo-Andreis IA, Bosello O . Total and intra-abdominal fat measurements by ultrasound and computerized tomography Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1993 17: 209–214.
Van Harmelen V, Reynisdottir S, Eriksson P, Thorne A, Hoffstedt J, Lonnqvist F, Arner P . Leptin secretion from subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue in women Diabetes 1998 47: 913–917.
Kotani K, Tokunaga K, Fujioka S, Kobatake T, Keno Y, Yoshida S, Shimomura I, Tarui S, Matsuzawa Y . Sexual dimorphism of age-related changes in whole-body fat distribution in the obese Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1994 18: 207–210.
Masuzaki H, Hosoda K, Ogawa Y, Shigemoto M, Satoh N, Mori K, Tamura N, Nishi S, Yoshimasa Y, Yamori Y, Nakao K . Augmented expression of obese (ob) gene during the process of obesity in genetically obese-hyperglycemic Wistar fatty (fa/fa) rats FEBS Lett 1996 378: 267–271.
Alessi MC, Peiretti F, Morange P, Henry M, Nalbone G, Juhan-Vague I . Production of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 by human adipose tissue: possible link between visceral fat accumulation and vascular disease Diabetes 1997 46: 860–867.
Rissanen P, Makimattila S, Vehmas T, Taavitsainen M, Rissanen A . Effect of weight loss and regional fat distribution on plasma leptin concentration in obese women Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999 23: 645–649.
Rosenbaum M, Leibel RL . Clinical review 107: Role of gonadal steroids in the sexual dimorphisms in body composition and circulating concentrations of leptin J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999 84: 1784–1789.
Ostlund RE Jr, Yang JW, Klein S, Gingerich R . Relation between plasma leptin concentration and body fat, gender, diet, age, and metabolic covariates J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1996 81: 3909–3913.
Rosenbaum M, Nicolson M, Hirsch J, Heynsfield S, Gallagher D, Chu F, Leibel R . Effects of gender, body composition, and menopause on plasma concentrations of leptin J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1996 81: 324–327.
Kennedy A, Gettys TW, Watson P, Wallace P, Ganaway E, Pan Q, Garvey WT . The metabolic significance of leptin in humans: gender-based differences in relationship to adiposity, insulin sensitivity, and energy expenditure J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997 82: 1293–1300.
Haffner S, Stern M, Miettinen H, Wei M, Gingerich R . Leptin concentrations in diabetic and non-diabetic Mexican Americans Diabetes 1996 45: 822–824.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Minocci, A., Savia, G., Lucantoni, R. et al. Leptin plasma concentrations are dependent on body fat distribution in obese patients. Int J Obes 24, 1139–1144 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801385
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801385
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Effects of short-term dietary restriction on plasma metabolites and the subcutaneous fat area according to metabolic status in obese individuals: a case–control study
Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome (2021)
-
Associations of leptin and adiponectin with incident type 2 diabetes and interactions among African Americans: the Jackson heart study
BMC Endocrine Disorders (2020)
-
Evaluation of anti-obesity potential of aqueous extract of Achyranthes aspera Linn. in high fat diet induced obese rats
Clinical Phytoscience (2020)
-
Effects of the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin on HDL cholesterol, particle size, and cholesterol efflux capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized placebo-controlled trial
Cardiovascular Diabetology (2017)
-
A cross-sectional study of the association between adipokine levels and bone mineral density according to obesity and menopausal status in Korean women
Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism (2017)