LEPTIN IN OVERWEIGHT POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN - NO RELATIONSHIP WITH METABOLIC SYNDROME-X OR EFFECT OF EXERCISE IN ADDITION TO DIET

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of diet with exercise on serum leptin and whether leptin is associated with the metabolic syndrome X in a h igh risk population such as overweight postmenopausal women. STUDY DES IGN AND SUBJECTS: 121 healthy overweight, postmenopausal women (aged 4 9-58 y, body mass index (BMI) 25-42 kg/m(2)) were randomized to: A low -energy-diet, 4.2 MJ/d (n = 51), low-energy-diet + standardized physic al exercise (n=49) or no intervention (control: n=21) for 12 weeks, fo llowed by 6 months follow-up without intervention. MEASUREMENTS: S-lep tin was measured by Radio Immuno Assay (RIA), body composition and fat distribution by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and anthropom etry. Factors associated with the metabolic syndrome X and sex hormone s were measured. RESULTS: S-leptin was two-fold higher than in normal- weight postmenopausal women and S-leptin was normalized after weight l oss induced by the 12-week low-energy-diet, without any additive effec t of the exercise. Of the factors associated with the metabolic syndro me X, serum-leptin correlated significantly only with sex-hormone-bind ing-globulin and plasminogen-activator-inhibitor-1, whereas factors as sociated with obesity per se correlated significantly with leptin, Cha nges in S-leptin correlated with changes in fat tissue mass during the follow-up, but not during the intervention. S-leptin at baseline did not correlate with either short term or long term weight loss. CONCLUS ION: There is no effect of exercise added to diet on S-leptin in overw eight postmenopausal women. Leptin does not seem to be associated with the metabolic syndrome X, but rather with fatness. S-leptin is probab ly associated with both dynamic and static effects of adipose tissue, S-leptin did not predict weight loss.