Correlation between Serum Leptin Levels and BMI in Adults Residing in Pohang, Korea

Leptin is a small polypeptide hormone secreted primarily by adipocytes. Leptin regulates energy balance by decreasing food intake and increasing energy expenditure. This study investigated the relationships between serum leptin levels and BMI (body mass index) in 49 adults in Pohang, Korea. The subjects were 25 males and 24 females, aged 21 to 64 years attending an outpatient clinic at Handong University Sunlin Presbyterian Hospital. Values are given +/- the standard error of the mean. Our study shows that the serum leptin levels in these subjects were positively correlated with BMI. The leptin levels were higher in females (2.39+/-1.82 ng/mL) than in males (0.43+/-0.455 ng/mL), although lower than previously reported. We therefore compared the serum leptin levels from the male Korean subjects (BMI 24.3+/-0.74 kg/m2) with serum from six British males with a similar BMI (23.4+/-1.48 kg/m2). The serum leptin concentrations (1.76+/ -0.76 ng/mL) were lower than that of plasma (4.28+/-1.66 ng/mL) in the British subjects. The serum leptin in the British subjects (1.76+/-0.76 ng/mL) was higher than that in the Koreans. There was no correlation between leptin levels and BMI in either male (slope 0.018±0.036, p=0.624) or female (slope 0.382±0.433, p=0.417) type 2 diabetic patients in Pohang, Korea. Taken together, our study shows that the serum leptin level in Koreans varies with the BMI, but is lower than that of BMI-matched British subjects. KCI Citation Count: 0