Leptin and adiponectin levels in acute pancreatitis

Obesity is a risk factor for a severe form of acute pancreatitis (AP). Because the underlying mechanisms are poorly known, we studied relationship between the severity of AP and plasma levels of leptin and adiponectin, 2 adipokines regulating the course of systemic inflammation.

The study comprises 12 patients with severe AP and 12 control patients with mild AP matched by age (+/-10 years), body mass index (+/-3 kg/m), sex, and etiology of AP. Quantikine Human Adiponectin and Quantikine Human Leptin Immunoassays (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, Minn) were used to measure the adipokine levels in the patients' plasma on admission and during the hospital stay.

Median leptin concentrations on admission were 6.1 ng/mL (range, 1.6-72.9 ng/mL) in the severe AP group and 9.0 ng/mL (range, 2.5-36.3 ng/mL) in the mild AP group (P > 0.05). In severe AP, the value at days 2 to 4 (7.7 ng/mL; range, 1.6-13.9 ng/mL) did not differ from respective on-admission value (P > 0.05). In mild AP, the value at days 2 to 4 (3.8 ng/mL; range, 1.6-12.9 ng/mL) was lower than the respective on-admission value (P = 0.005). Adiponectin concentrations on admission were 5642 ng/mL (range, 1201-19,400 ng/mL) for severe AP and 6314 ng/mL (range, 1980-24,340 ng/mL) for mild AP (P > 0.05). Maximum variation of adiponectin level (the highest value minus the lowest value) was greater in severe AP than in mild AP (P = 0.001).

In patients matched by age, sex, body mass index, and etiology, the on-admission plasma levels of adiponectin and leptin do not correlate with disease severity, suggesting that the adipokines do not affect the course of AP.