title: Serum leptin concentration in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the potential effect of serum leptin levels in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related wasting.
  
  
  METHODS
  Morning serum leptin levels of 94 randomly chosen HIV-infected patients were measured and correlated with age, sex, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), routine blood chemistries (SMA 18), complete blood cell count, HIV viral load, and CD4/CD8 ratio.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean serum leptin level was 7.0 +/- 6.9 ng/mL. Leptin levels were significantly higher in the 38 female patients than in the 56 male patients (10.0 +/- 8.4 ng/mL versus 5.0 +/- 4.9 ng/mL; P<0.001). Leptin levels were positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.71; P<0.05). The correlation of leptin levels with BMI was improved when the results were analyzed stratified by the sex of the patients (r = 0.74 for female patients; r = 0.81 for male patients).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that the serum leptin levels in HIV-infected patients with BMI between 18 and 25 kg/m 2 were comparable to leptin levels in lean, healthy subjects. Leptin distribution was positively correlated with BMI, as expected. These data do not support the hypothesis for a major role of serum leptin in HIV-related wasting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Interfaith Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Peesapati
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jeet
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moktan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudej
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martin-Naar
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trauber
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Renedo