title: Assessment of nutritional status and serum leptin in children with inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) commonly have altered nutrition and growth. Measurement of serum leptin may enhance other modalities to assess the nutritional state of children with IBD. The aim of the present study was to define the nutritional status of children with newly diagnosed IBD by measuring anthropometry and serum leptin levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight children newly diagnosed with IBD and 56 age- and sex-matched controls were enrolled prospectively. Anthropometry (weight, height, and body mass index [BMI] expressed as z scores) and serum leptin levels were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The children with IBD had lower mean BMI z scores and weight-for-age percentiles than controls (P = 0.05 and P = 0.01, respectively). The mean (standard deviation) serum leptin levels of the children with IBD were 2.4 (± 1.9) pg/mL, compared with 5.2 (± 4.6) pg/mL for controls (P = 0.01). The BMI percentile correlated positively with leptin levels in both groups. Following adjustment for BMI percentiles, serum leptin levels were lower in children with IBD than in controls (P = 0.02). Leptin levels did not correlate with serum markers of inflammation or disease activity scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Detailed and focused nutritional assessment should be an integral part of the management of all children with IBD. Children at the time of diagnosis of IBD have significant undernutrition and have lower serum leptin levels than controls. The inflammatory state in IBD appears not to alter leptin metabolism. Further study of the effect of leptin in IBD is required.
authors.affiliation: The Children's Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Brekhna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aurangzeb
authors.forename: Steven T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Leach
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Lemberg
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Day
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin