Relationship of circulating adipokines to body composition in pregnant women

Circulating adipokines are associated with physiological and pathophysiological processes in both obesity and pregnancy. Obesity in pregnancy increases the risk of pregnancy complications and the majority of research uses body mass index (BMI) to assess fatness. Specific fat compartments are associated with obesity-induced health risks yet it is not known how abdominal fat mass in pregnancy is related to circulating adipokines. Plasma leptin, resistin, visfatin, and adiponectin were measured by immunoassay in healthy pregnant women of normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.9; n = 17) and overweight/obese pregnant women (BMI 25.0-40, n = 21) in the third trimester. Total body and abdominal subcutaneous and visceral fat mass were measured at 1-3 weeks postpartum. Overweight/obese women had greater total body fat (t = -6.210, P < 0.001) and abdominal subcutaneous fat (t = -5.072, P < 0.001) than normal-weight women while there was no difference in abdominal visceral fat. Overweight/obese women had higher leptin (66.3 ± 34.2 vs. 35.7 ± 19.3 ng/mL, P < 0.001) compared to normal-weight women. Leptin was associated with total body fat (r = 0.782, P < 0.001) and resistin was associated with abdominal visceral fat (r = 0.452, P = 0.045). No significant correlations were observed between adiponectin or visfatin and any measure of body composition. In pregnant women, resistin has the potential to be a circulating biomarker for visceral fat, an ectopic fat compartment. These observational data may provide insight for the pathophysiological roles of adipokines and the impact of visceral fat in pregnant women.