Leptin and ghrelin levels in children before and after adenoidectomy or adenotonsillectomy.
OBJECTIVE
Accelerated weight gain after (adeno)tonsillectomy has been reported in a number of studies. Whether (adeno)tonsillectomy is also a risk factor for development of overweight is unknown. We investigated serum leptin and plasma ghrelin levels before and 1 year after (adeno)tonsillectomy operation in children.


METHODS
We studied 31 patients and 29 age- and sex-matched healthy control children. Auxologic evaluation and biochemical investigations were performed before surgery and 1 year later.


RESULTS
One year after surgery, height SDS (p = 0.001) and weight SDS (p = 0.004) were significantly increased in both groups. No changes in BMI SDS (p = 0.105) were observed. Preoperative leptin levels were significantly higher in patients than controls (p < 0.001). IGF-1, IGFBP-3, HOMA-IR and ghrelin values were not significantly different between the groups. One year after surgery, IGF-1 (p = 0.001) and IGFBP-3 (p = 0.001) were significantly increased, while ghrelin (p < 0.001) was significantly decreased. Postoperative leptin levels of patients were also significantly higher than preoperative values (p = 0.036).


CONCLUSIONS
Significantly higher leptin levels in patients compared to control both before and 1 year after an obstruction-relieving surgery suggested that higher levels might be due to leptin resistance in these patients. Based on our findings we recommend measurement of leptin levels longitudinally for at least 5 years after adenotonsillectomy.
Department of Pediatrics, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey.
Zeynep Selen
ZS
Karalok
Mehmet
M
Akdag
Murat
M
Turhan
Gulbahar
G
Uzun
Sebahat
S
Ozdem
Oktay
O
Dinc
Iffet
I
Bircan
D000233:Adenoidectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014068:Tonsillectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015430:Weight Gain
D054439:Ghrelin; D020738:Leptin