title: Body fat, caloric intake, and plasma leptin levels in women with anorexia nervosa.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure serum leptin concentrations in women with anorexia nervosa (AN) and to identify independent predictors of leptin levels, thereby allowing hormone levels to be modeled using regression analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study of 15 AN inpatients and 16 healthy control subjects. Age, height, weight, percent body fat, total caloric intake, fat intake, and fasting plasma leptin levels were recorded. Stepwise forward regression analysis was carried out to identify predictors of leptin levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Circulating leptin concentrations in AN were 3.5+/-0.5 versus 7.6+/-1.2 ng/ml in control subjects. Percent body fat correlated best with leptin levels in anorexic and control subjects (r =.63; p =.0002), with caloric intake showing only a moderate correlation (r = .47; p = .008). Only percent body fat was a significant predictor of plasma leptin levels in our regression model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Leptin levels are proportionately lower in AN as compared to healthy controls. It appears that physiological regulation of plasma levels with respect to percent body fat is maintained in individuals with little body fat.
authors.affiliation: St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lear
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Pauly
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Birmingham
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000097:blood*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin