Serum leptin in obese type 2 diabetic females in South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Obese people, especially females, are known to have high circulating levels of leptin, a hormone that increases energy expenditure and also regulates glucose metabolism. However, the link between obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) through leptin is yet to be clearly defined. Objectives: This study determined and compared the levels of scrum leptin and HOMA-IR scores in obese and non-obese females with or without T2DM. We also determined the relationship between their serum leptin levels and glycaemic control. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study involving 60 obese T2DM females, 60 non- obese T2DM females and 60 obese non-diabetic female adults who met selection criteria. Their demographic data and anthropometric parameters were obtained using standard - ds. Fasting blood samples were collected aseptically from participants for determination of plasma glucose, serum leptin, HbAk and HOMA-IR. Results: Serum leptin levels in obese T2DM, obese non-diabetic and non-obese T2DM femaless were (15.61 ±10.63), (11.33±14.22) and (5.92±3.68) ng/ ml respectively. There were significantly much higher serum leptin levels in obese T2DM than in obese non-diabetic females (p = 0.035S). In the obese T2DM participants, serum leptin levels had strong negative correlation with HOMA-IR (r = -0.293, p=0.023) and HbAK (r = -0.255, p = 0.049). Conclusion: Serum leptin levels were much higher in obese females with diabetes than in those without diabetes. However, the strong negative correlation of scrum leptin levels with improving glycaemic control may suggest a therapeutic potential of leptin for diabetes which needs to be further explored.