Leptin in women with eating disorders

The aim of the present study was to determine the factors controlling lepti n secretion and to clarify the role of leptin in eating disorders. The subj ects were 152 eating-disordered women with different fat mass, eating behav ior, and endocrine abnormalities and 24 age-matched control subjects. The b ody fat mass, eating behavior score, and plasma leptin, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), triiodothyronine (T-3), free thy roxine (T-4), insulin, and cortisol levels were evaluated for each subject. In patients with eating disorder, logarithmic values for leptin were signi ficantly correlated with the body fat mass (r = .828, P < .001), eating beh avior score (r = .777, P < .001), and LH (r = .465, P < .001), FSH (r = .44 0, P < .001), T-3 (r = .572, P < .001), insulin (r = .410, P < .001), and c ortisol (r = -.389, P < .001) levels. After adjusting for fat mass, the par tial correlations of log leptin with LH, FSH, insulin, and cortisol were no t statistically significant, but log leptin remained correlated with T-3 (r = .390, P < .01). Stepwise regression analysis showed that the body fat ma ss and eating behavior score were significant determinants of leptin levels . These results suggest that eating behavior, as well as the body fat mass, is the control factor for leptin secretion in eating disorders. Copyright (C) 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company.