Body Mass Index, percent body fat, and regional body fat distribution in relation to leptin concentrations in healthy, non-smoking postmenopausal women in a feeding study.
BACKGROUND
The relationship between BMI and leptin has been studied extensively in the past, but previous reports in postmenopausal women have not been conducted under carefully controlled dietary conditions of weight maintenance using precise measures of body fat distribution. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between serum leptin concentration and adiposity as estimated by BMI and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) measures (percent body fat, central and peripheral fat, and lean mass) in postmenopausal women.


METHODS
This study was conducted as a cross-sectional analysis within the control segment of a randomized, crossover trial in which postmenopausal women (n = 51) consumed 0 (control), 15 (one drink), and 30 (two drinks) g alcohol (ethanol)/d for 8 weeks as part of a controlled diet. BMIs were determined and DEXA scans were administered to the women during the 0 g alcohol treatment, and a blood sample was collected at baseline and week 8 of each study period for leptin analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
In multivariate analysis, women who were overweight (BMI > 25 to < or = 30 kg/m2) had a 2-fold increase, and obese women (BMI > 30 kg/m2) had more than a 3-fold increase in serum leptin concentrations compared to normal weight (BMI < or =25 kg/m2) women. When the models for the different measures of adiposity were assessed by multiple R2, models which included percent body fat explained the highest proportion (approximately 80%) of the serum leptin variance.


CONCLUSIONS
Under carefully controlled dietary conditions, we confirm that higher levels of adiposity were associated with higher concentrations of serum leptin. It appears that percent body fat in postmenopausal women may be the best adiposity-related predictor of serum leptin.
Mahabir
Somdat
S
Department of Epidemiology, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. smahabir@mdanderson.org
Baer
David
D
Johnson
Laura L
LL
Roth
Mark
M
Campbell
William
W
Clevidence
Beverly
B
Taylor
Philip R
PR
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000368:Aged; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D012907:Smoking
D020738:Leptin