Serum leptin concentrations in obese women with Down syndrome and Prader–Willi syndrome
- Resource Type
- Authors
- S. Reitano; R. S. Spada; Letizia Ragusa; R. M. Cento; Antonio Lanzone; V. Napolitano; Caterina Proto
- Source
- Gynecological Endocrinology. 13:36-41
- Subject
- Adult
Leptin
congenital, hereditary, and neonatal diseases and abnormalities
medicine.medical_specialty
Down syndrome
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
medicine.medical_treatment
Radioimmunoassay
Reproductive age
Body Mass Index
Endocrinology
Internal medicine
Humans
Insulin
Medicine
Testosterone
Obesity
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
Receptor
Progesterone
Estradiol
business.industry
Androstenedione
Proteins
nutritional and metabolic diseases
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dehydroepiandrosterone
Luteinizing Hormone
medicine.disease
Prolactin
nervous system diseases
Serum leptin
Female
Down Syndrome
Follicle Stimulating Hormone
business
Prader-Willi Syndrome
Body mass index
- Language
- ISSN
- 1473-0766
0951-3590
We have evaluated serum leptin concentrations in two forms of genetic obesity. The subjects examined were eight women with Down syndrome and eight women with Prader-Willi syndrome. All patients were in the reproductive age range and were obese (body mass indexor = 27 kg/m2). Plasma leptin values, analyzed as a function of body mass index showed a statistically significant correlation in both Prader-Willi (r = 0.985; p0.001) and Down syndrome patients (r = 0.943; p0.001). Obese Down syndrome women exhibited significantly lower leptin values (10.8 +/- 1.1) as compared to patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (31 +/- 2.6; p0.01). The linear correlation between leptin and insulin in the two groups of patients was not statistically significant. The data suggested that obesity in Prader-Willi subjects could be caused by failure of leptin to reach its target in the brain, as a consequence of defects in the receptor or in postreceptor processing, whereas data on obese patients with Down syndrome could be due to a different pathogenetic origin.