title: Midtrimester amniotic fluid leptin and insulin levels and subsequent gestational diabetes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate midtrimester amniotic fluid leptin levels in pregnancies subsequently complicated by gestational diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 32 pregnant women with gestational diabetes and a control group of 43 normal pregnancies with an adequate gestational age fetus. All underwent a midtrimester amniocentesis: leptin and insulin were measured in the amniotic fluid. Data were compared with the Mann-Whitney U-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median leptin concentrations in the amniotic fluid of the gestational diabetes mellitus patients were significantly higher than in the control group (15.1 vs. 7.9 ng/ml) (p = 0.001); amniotic insulin concentrations were also higher in the gestational diabetes mellitus than in the control group (0.67 vs. 0.38 microU/ml) (p = 0.02). Furthermore, amniotic fluid leptin levels were directly correlated with amniotic insulin concentrations; instead, there was no correlation with maternal BMI and birth weight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that in pregnancies subsequently complicated by gestational diabetes, amniotic fluid leptin and insulin levels are higher in the early fetal period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Messina, Messina, Italy. rosariodanna@tin.it
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: D'Anna
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baviera
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cannata
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Vivo
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Benedetto
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Corrado
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007328:Insulin / Q000032:analysis*; D020738:Leptin / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007328:Insulin; D020738:Leptin