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Decreased serum leptin levels in women with uterine leiomyomas
Te-Fu Chan1, Jinu-Huang Su, Yueh-Fang Chung
1Department of Obstetrics, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Objective:
To analyze the possible involvement of leptin in uterine leiomyomas.
Study Design:
Serum leptin levels, determined by radioimmunoassay, were compared in myomatic (n = 50) and the normal (n = 50) women.
Results:
A significant correlation was found between serum leptin levels and body mass index in both the myomatic women (r = 0.76, p < 0.001) and the normal women (r = 0.56, p < 0.001). Serum leptin levels in the myomatic women (9.3 +/- 0.6 ng/mL) were significantly lower (p < 0.001) than those in the normal women (13.6 +/- 1.2 ng/mL). In addition, the ratios of serum leptin levels/body mass index in the myomatic women (0.38 +/- 0.02) were significantly lower than those in the normal women (0.57 +/- 0.04) (p < 0.001). A significant correlation was found between the ratios of serum leptin levels/body mass index and body mass index (r = 0.59, p < 0.001) in the normal women, but not in the myomatic women (r = 0.27, p = 0.061).
Conclusion:
The lower plasma leptin levels observed in the women with myomas were independent of body mass index, and unlike the normal women there was no significant up-regulation of leptin production in response to increased adiposity.