Role of Leptin in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Leptin has been implicated as a pathogenetic contributor to atherosclerosis. We aimed to investigate the association of leptin level with ischemic stroke.

We prospectively enrolled 52 patients with acute ischemic stroke and measured leptin levels and compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Risk factors, body mass index (BMI), biochemical parameters, intima-media thickness (IMT) on carotid vertebral Doppler and neuroimaging was done. Data were entered into MS-Excel and appropriate statistical analysis was done using SPSS software version 21.0. P = 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Serum leptin was significantly elevated in stroke patients (6598.1 ± 1035.1) compared to controls (3090.7 ± 698.86) (P < 0.01). Patients had higher BMI (26.9 ± 1.7) than controls (26.9 ± 1.7) (P < 0.00). BMI, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, white blood cell (WBC) count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C reactive protein (CRP) were significantly elevated in stroke patients than controls. Correlation analysis among patient group showed that serum leptin positively correlated with CRP (r - 0.41, P - <0.05), WBCs (r - 0.28, P - <0.05), ESR (r - 0.429, P - <0.01) total cholesterol (r - 0.31, P - <0.05), LDL-cholesterol (r - 0.19, P - <0.05), and IMT (r - 0.714, P - <0.001).

Our study showed high leptin levels in patients with stroke. Stroke patients with high leptin had higher BMI and inflammatory markers. The results of our study indicate that leptin may have a role in atherosclerosis mediated through inflammation. Future research should be directed toward understanding the role of leptin in the pathogenesis of cerebrovascular diseases and its potential role in preventive treatment of ischemic stroke.