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Updated: May 1, 2026

Milk Collection in the Rat Using Capillary Tubes and Estimation of Milk Fat Content by Creamatocrit
Published on: December 16, 2015
Breast milk leptin and adiponectin in relation to infant body composition up to 2 years
1Else Kröner-Fresenius-Center for Nutritional Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
Background:
Adipokines in breast milk have been associated with infant growth trajectories.
Objective:
We aimed to explore the relationship of leptin and adiponectin in breast milk with infant weight gain and body composition up to the age of 2 years.
Methods:
Breast milk samples were collected from exclusively or partially breastfeeding mothers at 6 weeks (n = 152) and 4 months (n = 120) post-partum. Leptin and adiponectin were determined in skim breast milk and related to infant growth and fat mass assessed by skin-fold thickness measurements. A total of 118 infants were examined at 2 years.
Results:
The levels of both milk adipokines were slightly lower at 4 months compared with 6 weeks post-partum. Breast milk leptin was largely unrelated to infant anthropometric measures up to 2 years. Milk adiponectin tended to be inversely related to early infant anthropometry up to 4 months, but beyond was positively associated with weight gain and the sum of skin-folds up to 2 years.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest that higher adiponectin levels in breast milk might be associated with greater weight gain and higher fat mass in the offspring up to 2 years.
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