Study of the Correlation of Serum Leptin with BMI (A Nutritional Marker) in Patients of End Stage Renal Disease, Who were on Maintenance Haemodialysis

• Main Authors: Simran Kaur, Narinder Pal Singh, Ajay Kumar Jain, Archana Thakur
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2012-02-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
• Subjects: body mass index; serum leptin; renal failure; physiology
• Online Access: https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/1865/4%20-%203404.(A).pdf

Introduction: Leptin is a small peptide hormone which is produced mainly, but not exclusively by adipocytes. In the general population, it is believed to be an “appetite inhibitor”. It is partly cleared by the kidney and is increased in the patients of endstage renal disease, who are undergoing haemodialysis. There are conflicting reports in the literature about the relationship of serum leptin with the nutritional marker, body mass index (BMI) and studies which are available in the Indian population, which have explored such a relationship, are sparse. Objective: This study was planned to assess the level of serum leptin and to explore its relationship with body mass index (BMI) in patients of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), who were on maintenance haemodialysis. Methods: Eighty subjects (forty controls and forty ESRD patients who were on maintenance haemodialysis) were taken for this case-control study. A thorough history was taken and relevant clinical examinations including anthropometric measurements were done. All the subjects were subjected to routine haematological investigations and the evaluation of serum leptin. Statistical Analysis: The data which was thus collected was subjected to the Student’s t-test for studying the significance. A correlation was found between the serum leptin levels and the body mass index by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Observations and Result: Patients of ESRD, who were on maintenance haemodialysis, had significantly higher fasting blood sugar, blood urea, serum creatinine and serum leptin levels; and significantly lower haemoglobin levels vis-à-vis the healthy subjects. Serum leptin and body mass index were found to have a positive correlation (r=0.350), with a p value 0.027. Conclusion: We observed a positive correlation between serum leptin and BMI in patients of end-stage renal disease who were on maintenance haemodialysis, which supported the theory of a reverse epidemiological role of serum leptin in the maintenance of haemodialysis patients.