Serum leptin and body composition in polycystic ovarian syndrome

The role of leptin in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is unclear. We investigated the relationship between serum leptin levels, body composition and insulin resistance in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

We analyzed differences between 27 patients with PCOS and 25 control subjects in serum glucose and leptin levels, insulin resistance, body fat mass, lean body mass, and water volume.

Serum leptin was significantly correlated with basal insulin levels, BMI and IR in both groups (P<0.01). Fat mass, fat percentage, lean mass and water volumes were positively correlated and lean percentage and water percentage were negatively correlated with leptin levels (P<0.05). Leptin levels were significantly different between the groups in a multivariate regression analysis after correcting for the difference in BMI and body fat percentage (P<0.05). When the effects of fat percentage on serum leptin were eliminated, the levels were significantly different between the PCOS and control groups, and were statistically more powerful than BMI (P<0.01).

These findings support the idea that factors other than excess fat mass or fat-free mass might be important in the regulation of serum leptin levels in PCOS.