title: Plasma Leptin in Patients at Intermediate to High Cardiovascular Risk With and Without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A number of clinical studies have demonstrated that leptin concentrations are related to the metabolic disturbances that constitute the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and to diabetes mellitus (DM).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate possible determinants of leptin concentrations in a sample of patients at high cardiovascular (CV) risk carrying two or more features of the MetS and to investigate if any difference exist between at risk patients with or without DM.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum leptin concentrations were measured in 60 consecutive male patients affected by at least two CV risk factors which belong to the National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATP III) definition of MetS: 30 patients affected by type 2 DM (T2DM) and 30 nondiabetic patients (non-T2DM). Nineteen healthy subjects were included in the study as a control group (HC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Leptin was significantly higher in patients carrying two or more features of the MetS compared with HC (P = 0.02). Stratifying MetS patients for DM, we found that leptin level was higher in non-T2DM patients (7.8 ng/ml), intermediate in T2DM (6.2 ng/ml), and lower in HC (4.6 ng/ml). In MetS patients, a positive correlation was found between leptin and waist, triglycerides, and number of MetS criteria. After stratification for T2DM, the correlations were still significant in the non-T2DM but not in the T2DM group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our sample of moderate-to-high-risk patients, leptin level is positively associated with waist circumference and triglycerides but only in non-T2DM patients. Our data suggest that diabetic subjects could modulate leptin production in a different way compared with patients carrying other MetS-related anomalies.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Biochemistry Section, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montagnana
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Section C, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fava
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Metabolism Section, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Targher
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Carlo Poma Hospital, Mantova, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franchini
authors.affiliation: Clinical Biochemistry Section, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Danese
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Section C, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonafini
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Metabolism Section, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Cata
authors.affiliation: Clinical Biochemistry Section, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Gian Luca
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Salvagno
authors.affiliation: Clinical Biochemistry Section, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Orazio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ruzzenente
authors.affiliation: Clinical Biochemistry Section, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Gian Cesare
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Guidi
authors.affiliation: Clinical Biochemistry Section, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lippi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001786:Blood Glucose; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood; D012307:Risk Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D055105:Waist Circumference
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D020738:Leptin; D014280:Triglycerides
keywords: MetS; cardiovascular risk; diabetes mellitus; leptin; metabolic syndrome