Placent derived leptin as an important fetoplacental signal to regulate maternal energy metabolism

초록

Leptin is thought to act as an afferent obesity signal from body fat to the hypothalamus, which controls food intake and energy expenditure. In pregnant women, leptin is produced by fetal adipocytes, placental trophoblasts and amniotic membranes. Leptin may have a role in intrauterine fetal growth and energy metabolism. We investigated how the leptin levels in amniotic fluid and maternal serum are regulated at mid-trimester. Amniotic fluid and maternal blood sampling were collected from 26 pregnant women who were performed genetic amniocentesis at mid-trimester. Sera and amniotic fluid were obtained by centrifugation, immediately frozen, and stored at -70℃(degree) until the assay. Leptin concentrations were measured by a specific radioimmunoassay employing human recombinant leptin. Mean gestational age was 18.19±1.77weeks. Male fetus was 10, and female 16. Mean maternal leptin level was 12.49±4.46ng/ml. Mean amniotic leptin level was 5.06±3.20ng/ml. Mean maternal leptin levels were significantly higher than those in amniotic fluid, P value is 0.0001. When regression analysis was performed, there was no significant correlation between amniotic leptin levels and maternal leptin levels, gestational age, maternal BMI, or fetal sex, respectively. In contrast, maternal serum leptin levels significantly correlated with maternal BMI(Fig 1), but not with gestational age and maternal age. p=0.0103. In conclusion, maternal leptin levels were higher than amniotic leptin levels and could represent maternal fat mass. Further studies are needed to assess the regulation and role of amniotic fluid leptin