Plasma levels of leptin are associated with the plasma levels of LDL conjugated dienes in children.
BACKGROUND
Plasma leptin has been suggested to be involved in the proatherogenic process by increasing oxidative stress. We investigated the relationship between leptin and plasma conjugated diene formation, a measure of LDL oxidation in vivo in schoolchildren.


METHODS
We measured blood lipid profiles, plasma antioxidant vitamins, leptin and diene conjugation in LDL of 118 Korean children (35 overweight-obese vs. 83 normal weight children).


RESULTS
The overweight-obese children showed significantly higher levels of leptin (p < 0.0001), conjugated dienes (p = 0.02), total cholesterol (p < 0.05), triglyceride (p < 0.005) and LDL cholesterol (p < 0.01) and a significantly lower level of plasma lycopene (p < 0.0001) compared with the normal weight children. When all the subjects were classified into the three groups by tertiles of leptin levels, significant differences in circulating conjugated dienes (p < 0.05), lipid-corrected lycopene (p < 0.05), total cholesterol (p < 0.05), triglyceride (p < 0.05) and LDL cholesterol (p < 0.05) were found among the three groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results showed that leptin was positively associated with the LDL conjugated diene formation, which might be related to the proatherogenic process in schoolchildren.
Shin
Min-Jeong
MJ
Yonsei Cardiovascular Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Park
Eunju
E
D002338:Carotenoids / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D000077276:Lycopene; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress
D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D020738:Leptin; D002338:Carotenoids; D000077276:Lycopene