title: Maternal leptin predicts adiposity of the neonate.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increased adiposity at birth may identify infants at high risk of developing obesity. Maternal obesity and hyperglycemia in pregnancy are associated with increased neonatal adiposity; however, features of maternal obesity that contribute to increased neonatal adiposity need further study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To measure adiposity in neonates of obese and normal-weight women without gestational diabetes to test the hypothesis that obese women have neonates with increased adiposity compared to neonates of normal-weight women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-one pregnant women, with a normal or obese BMI, and their neonates participated in this cross-sectional study at an academic medical center. Neonatal adiposity, expressed as percent body fat (fat mass/body mass), was measured by air displacement plethysmography and cord blood was assayed for biomarkers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adiposity in neonates of obese and normal-weight mothers did not differ. Stratifying mothers by leptin level showed that neonates born to mothers with higher leptin had significantly higher adiposity (13.2 vs. 11.1%, p = 0.035). In the entire cohort, adiposity positively correlated with cord blood leptin (r = 0.48, p < 0.001) and adiponectin (r = 0.27, p = 0.04) levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity in normoglycemic pregnant women was not associated with increased neonatal adiposity. High maternal leptin levels identified neonates with increased adiposity.
authors: Division of Endocrinology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Ill., USA.
authors: Jami L
authors: JL
authors: Josefson
authors: Dinah M
authors: DM
authors: Zeiss
authors: Alfred W
authors: AW
authors: Rademaker
authors: Boyd E
authors: BE
authors: Metzger
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D009035:Mothers; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin