Impact of serum adiponectin and leptin levels in acute leukemia

Adipocytokines was stated to exert biological effect on tumor cells. Two adipokines, leptin and adiponectin in particular, have come to be recognized for their influence on tumor biology including leukemia. The prognostic effect of leptin and adiponectin concentrations in acute leukemia patients remains to be identified. This study was conducted on 80 acute leukemia patients: 35 acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 45 acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), and 20 controls of matched age and sex. Leptin and adiponectin were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at diagnosis. Serum leptin levels were significantly higher in ALL patients, and significantly lower in AML patients when compared with normal controls (P = 0.01, P = 0.04 respectively). On the other hand, serum adiponectin levels were significantly lower in AML and ALL patients as compared with normal controls (P = 0.00 for both). No significant differences exist regarding body mass index between acute leukemia patients and normal controls (P > 0.05). Correlation studies revealed that there were significant negative correlations between serum adiponectin levels and bone marrow (BM) blast cells and serum lactic dehydrogenase (sLDH) in acute leukemia groups (r 0.542, P < 0.01, r 0.699, P < 0.001, respectively). Regarding serum leptin levels there were positive significant correlations with BM blast cells (r 0.74, P < 0.01), total WBC counts (r = 0.59, P < 0.05), sLDH (r 0.738, P < 0.01) in ALL group; and significant negative correlations with BM blast cells (r 0.542, P < 0.01) and sLDH in the AML group. Adipocytokines may represent a new non-invasive biomarker in acute leukemia patients. Estimation of adiponectin and leptin serum levels at acute leukemia diagnosis could also be considered as a prognostic marker, which will be used in acute leukemia stratification.