Gender specificity of body adiposity and circulating adiponectin, visfatin, insulin, and insulin growth factor-I at term birth: relation to prenatal growth.
BACKGROUND
Fetal development is thought to be gender specific for adiposity and circulating insulin and IGF-I but not adipokinemia, as judged by serum visfatin and adiponectin at term birth. We studied the potential relationship between these gender specificities and fetal growth.


METHODS
The study was conducted at a university hospital.


METHODS
Subjects included 96 strictly matched neonates born appropriate for gestational age (AGA; 24 girls, 24 boys) or small for gestational age (SGA; 24 girls, 24 boys).


RESULTS
Outcomes included serum insulin, IGF-I, visfatin, total and high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin, osteocalcin at term birth, and neonatal body composition by absorptiometry.


RESULTS
Cord insulin and IGF-I levels were higher in girls than boys (P < or = 0.01), in both the AGA and SGA subpopulation. In AGA newborns, fat and lean mass were each gender specific (P < 0.0001), whereas visfatin and total and HMW adiponectin were not. Conversely, in SGA newborns, visfatin and HMW adiponectin were gender specific (higher levels in girls), whereas body adiposity was not. In SGA fetuses, the distribution of adiponectin isoforms was in both genders shifted toward HMW (P < 0.005 vs. AGA). Cord osteocalcin did not differ by either gender or birth weight.


CONCLUSIONS
At term birth, the gender specificity of adiposity and circulating visfatin and HMW adiponectin appeared to depend on prenatal growth, whereas the gender specificity of insulin and IGF-I levels did not. The fetal shift in adiponectin isoforms may contribute to explain why SGA newborns tend to be hypersensitive to insulin.
Ibáñez
Lourdes
L
Endocrinology Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Passeig de Sant Joan de Déu 2, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain. libanez@hsjdbcn.org
Sebastiani
Giorgia
G
Lopez-Bermejo
Abel
A
Díaz
Marta
M
Gómez-Roig
Maria Dolores
MD
de Zegher
Francis
F
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D050154:Adiposity; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D047109:Fetal Development; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000097:blood*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
D052242:Adiponectin; D007328:Insulin; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase