Preoperative Level of Leptin Can Be a Predictor of Glycemic Control for Patients with Diabetes Undergoing Bariatric...

Bariatric surgery is a first-line treatment for patients with obesity and diabetes. It is uncertain whether leptin has an influence on glycemia in the postoperative period.

A cohort study of thirty-eight individuals with obesity and diabetes who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was undertaken. The levels of leptin, glucose, and glycosylated hemoglobin were verified in the preoperative period and in the first and third postoperative months.

The majority of patients were women (81.6%), and the mean age was 47.3 years (SD 8.8). The mean BMI was reduced by 17.75% (from 47.3 to 38.9 kg/m²) and the mean glycemia by 26.76%. Preoperative leptin had a moderate positive correlation with glucose level at the third month (Pearson r = 0.46, P = 0.02), but not with HbA1c. Patients with leptin above 27.34 ng/mL had a higher glucose level at the end of observation (101.9 versus 88.9, t test, P = 0.042).

The search for factors that influence diabetes control after bariatric surgery is of major importance in clinical practice. Our study reported a level of leptin that can predict the prognosis of glycemic control after the intervention. This finding still needs to be validated and confirmed in other populations.