Leptin concentrations in Prader-Willi syndrome before and after growth hormone replacement.
OBJECTIVE
This study explored leptin concentrations in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a genetic disorder characterized by significant obesity and presumed hypothalamic dysfunction. The potential interaction of leptin metabolism with the growth hormone (GH) axis was also studied.


METHODS
Plasma leptin concentrations and percent body fat were determined by radioimmunoassay and dual energy x-ray absorptionmetry, respectively, in 23 children with Prader-Willi syndrome and 23 children with exogenous obesity.


RESULTS
Log plasma leptin concentrations were positively correlated with percentage body fat in PWS (r = 0.844) and exogenous obesity (r = 0.869). When the regression lines for the two groups were compared, there were no differences in their slopes (P = 0.737) or intercepts (P = 0.701). Administration of recombinant human growth hormone to PWS children for 12 months significantly reduced both percentage body fat and plasma leptin concentrations, but the relationship of log plasma leptin to percentage body fat was unchanged.


CONCLUSIONS
Prader-Willi syndrome is not accompanied by deranged leptin concentrations and there was no evidence of an interaction of the GH axis with leptin metabolism in these GH-deficient children.
Myers
S E
SE
Department of Pediatrics, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, MO, USA.
Davis
A
A
Whitman
B Y
BY
Santiago
J V
JV
Landt
M
M
D001823:Body Composition; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology; D011218:Prader-Willi Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012044:Regression Analysis
D020738:Leptin; D013006:Growth Hormone