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Maternal plasma leptin is increased in preeclampsia and positively correlates with fetal cord concentration
J F McCarthy1, D N Misra, J M Roberts
1Magee-Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
Objective:
We tested the hypothesis that the maternal leptin concentration would be increased in preeclampsia, independent of maternal obesity.
Study Design:
Maternal and cord plasma leptin concentrations were compared in 2 groups of women with either preeclampsia (n = 24) or normal pregnancy (n = 24), matched 1:1 for prepregnancy body mass index and fetal gestational age at sampling.
Results:
Median leptin concentrations were significantly higher (P <. 03) in women with preeclampsia (45.6 ng/mL) than in normal pregnant women (27.0 ng/mL) and fell rapidly shortly after delivery (26.7 ng/mL and 25.4 ng/mL, respectively). Cord leptin was not significantly different between groups (5.4 ng/mL and 5.8 ng/mL, respectively). Maternal and cord leptin correlated significantly (rho = 0.76, P <.01) only in preeclampsia.
Conclusion:
Preeclampsia is associated with an increase in maternal plasma leptin concentrations that strongly correlates with the fetal cord concentration at delivery.