Serum leptin concentration in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus.
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.
Nowak
D
D
Department of Endocrinology, Interfaith Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Peesapati
S K
SK
Jeet
A
A
Moktan
S
S
Kudej
M
M
Martin-Naar
M A
MA
Trauber
D
D
Renedo
M F
MF