title: The Association of Serum Leptin with Mortality in Older Adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Elevated levels of serum leptin are associated with increased adiposity and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Both cytokines and body adiposity have been shown to predict cardiovascular events and mortality. The primary objective of the present study is to explore the associations between serum leptin and all-cause mortality and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD) over a span of 10 years, controlling for body adiposity and proinflammatory cytokines.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study is a prospective cohort of 3,075 older adults aged 70 to 79 years. This analysis includes 2,919 men and women with complete serum leptin and vital status data. Data on all-cause mortality and incident cardiovascular events (including Coronary Heart Disease and Congestive Heart Failure) were collected over 10 years of follow-up (mean 8.4 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with leptin in quartile 2 and 3 were at lower risk of all-cause mortality, and those with leptin in quartile 2 were at lower risk of mortality from CVD as compared to women with lowest leptin values when adjusted for age, race, site, years of education, alcohol use, smoking, and physical activity. When these associations were additionally adjusted for body fat, C-reactive protein and pro-inflammatory cytokines, women with leptin values in quartile 3 were at lower risk of all-cause mortality and women with leptin in quartile 2 and 3 were at lower risk of mortality from CVD than women with lowest leptin values. These associations were not significant among men after adjusting for body fat and cytokines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study suggests that moderately elevated concentrations of serum leptin are independently associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality and CVD-related mortality among older women. Among men, serum leptin is not associated with reduced risk of all-cause and CVD mortality after controlling for body fat and cytokines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Suruchi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Tamara B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Health, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Wen-Chi
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hsueh
authors.affiliation: University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Trisha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hue
authors.affiliation: Michigan Public Health Institute, Okemos, Michigan, United States of America.
authors.forename: Tennille S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Leak
authors.affiliation: National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institute of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rongling
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.affiliation: Diabetes Center and Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vaisse
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nadine R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Sahyoun
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein