Korean J Obstet Gynecol.  2005 Dec;48(12):2813-2819.

Leptin and growth hormone in the cord blood of healthy neonates: correlation with fetal growth

• Kim SR
• Park JH
• Park YJ
• Ryu KY
• Kim JW
• Lee BI
• Cho S

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To understand the correlation between leptin in cord blood and parameters indicating fetal growth and to investigate the relationship between leptin and growth hormone.
METHODS
We measured leptin and growth hormone levels in the cord blood of 46 healthy neonates by radioimmunoassay (RIA), and analyzed the correlation of leptin with growth hormone, birth weight, gestational age, sex, birth height, body mass index, maternal body mass index (BMI), and Ponderal Index by Pearson correlation coefficients.
RESULTS
Leptin concentration of cord blood was 5.16 g/l in median value; concentration in female cord blood was significantly higher than in male's (P=0.005). Growth hormone concentration was 28.60 g/l; there was no significant difference between female and male (P=0.584). There were significant correlations between leptin and birth weight, birth height, and BMI at birth, with correlation coefficients 0.56 (P=0.0001), 0.35 (P=0.017), and 0.35 (P=0.017), respectively. Growth hormone was correlated with leptin but statistically insignificant (P=0.085). And growth hormone was not correlated with gestational age, Ponderal Index or maternal BMI.
CONCLUSION
Leptin is significantly correlated with fetal growth, and growth hormone is potentially correlated with fetal growth.

Keyword

Leptin; Growth hormone; Fetal growth

MeSH Terms

Birth Weight
Body Height
Body Mass Index
Female
Fetal Blood*
Fetal Development*
Gestational Age
Growth Hormone*
Humans
Infant, Newborn*
Leptin*
Male
Parturition
Radioimmunoassay
Growth Hormone
Leptin