Ghulam Rehmani Lakho, Zeba Haq, Tariq Chundrigar, Kauser Nazir, Masood Anwar Qureshi.
Cord blood Leptin levels in Pakistani newborns: relationship with birth weight, length and occipitofrontal circumference.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;16(6):393-5.

Objective: To determine the serum leptin levels in cord blood of Pakistani newborns and to ascertain the relationship between serum leptin and anthropometric parameters i.e. birth weight, length and OFC. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Place and Duration: Lady Dufferin Hospital and Ziauddin Hospital, Karachi from 1999 to 2000. Patients and Methods: Leptin concentration was measured in 110 newborns of mothers of normal antenatal history from venous cord blood, using Active Elisa Kit (DSL-10-23100). Samples were selected according to availability. Results: Mean birth weight, length and occipitofrontal circumference (OFC) were 3.0 ± 0.4 kg, 48.7± 2.3cms and 33.1 ± 0.8 cms, respectively. Mean serum leptin levels was 10.0 ± 7.5 ng/ml. Serum leptin levels were found to be positively correlated with birth weight (r = 0.16, p = 0.04), and OFC (r = 0.33, p < 0.01), whereas no significant relationship was found with length of the babies. Conclusion: The reported results suggest that leptin may play role in newborns body weight and energy expenditure as in adults and children.

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