Study on Umbilical Cord Plasma Leptin in Preeclamptic and Normal Pregnant Women

Kim, Myoung Hwan; Cho, Yong Kyoon; Ko, Ji Kyung; Kang, Woong Sun; Park, Kee Hyun; Lee, Chul Min; Choi, Hoon; Kim, Bok Rin; Lee, Hong Kyoon

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Leptin, the protein encoded by the Ob gene in the adipose cell, is produced by the placenta during pregnancy and materanal serum leptin is increased in preeclampsia. The objective of this study was to compare umbilical cord plasma leptin level between infants of mothers who experienced preeclampsia and infants of control subjects and to understand the physiology of leptin.
METHODS
Leptin concentrations were measured in cord blood at birth using a specific radioimmunoassay employing human recombinant leptin (Human leptin RIA kit; Linco Research, Inc. U.S.A.). We compared cord plasma leptin between preeclamptic (n=17 women) and normal pregnancies (n=21 women).
RESULTS
Gestational age is the only one significant variable among the demographic variables (P=0.011). There was no statistically significant difference in cord plasma leptin level between infants of mothers who experienced preeclampsia and infants of control subjects, but preeclampsia group had slightly lower leptin levels than control subjects (Control subjects: 4.8 [3.7-7.9] ng/ml, Preeclamptic women: 2.7 [2.3-6.8] ng/ml, P=0.142). There was also no difference in the leptin value adjusted for different gestational age, or ratio between cord plasma leptin level and gestational age (Control subjects: 0.017 [0.013-0.018], Preeclamptic women: 0.010 [0.008-0.025], P=0.131).
CONCLUSION
We found no difference between umbilical cord plasma leptin in infants of mothers who had preeclampsia and umbilical cord plasma leptin in infants of control subjects, but insignificantly lower levels of umbilical cord plasma leptin in infants of mothers who had preeclampsia. It suggest that maternal serum concentration do not correlate with cord leptin concentration and dysregulation of leptin metabolism and/or function in the placenta may be implicated in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.