Serum leptin concentration in young adult women with ovulatory dysfunction

To investigate the functional role of leptin in human ovulation, we measured serum leptin, LH, FSH and estradiol in 16 young adult women suffering from ovulatory dysfunction with BMI ranging from 17.5 to 24.5 (group A). The control subjects included 12 women with regular ovulation and matched age and BMI (group B). We found that serum leptin concentration in group A subjects was significantly lower than that in group B subjects (4.1+/-0.5 vs. 6.1+/-0.4 ng/ml, p<0.01). The percent body fat, estradiol, LH and FSH concentrations in groups A and B were not significantly different. These results indicate that anovulatory young adult women have lower leptin concentration than women with regular ovulation, thus suggesting a key role for leptin in regular ovulation or ovulatory dysfunction.