Relationship of leptin level with metabolic disorders and hypertension in Japanese type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Leptin is considered to play an important role in the regulation of body we ight and metabolism in obese individuals. However, the relationship of lept in with metabolic disorders or vascular complications in type 2 diabetic pa tients has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the associa tion of leptin levels with clinical parameters (glycemic control, lipid lev els, abdominal fat distribution) and - investigated the leptin levels of di abetic patients with and without vascular complications in Japanese diabeti c patients. In male and female patients, leptin levels were significantly a ssociated with body mass index (BMI), percent body fat, insulin level, trig lyceride (TG) level, total abdominal fat area (TFA), visceral fat area (VFS ), and subcutaneous fat area (SFA). Only in male patients, leptin levels we re inversely correlated with HDL-cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and HbA(IC). Leptin levels in male and female patients with hypertension w ere higher than in those without hypertension. Leptin levels of both males and females with angiopathy were not statistically different from those wit hout angiopathy. In conclusion, leptin is involved in various metabolic dis orders and hypertension, and we speculate that it may not be strongly assoc iated with vascular complications in Japanese diabetic individuals. (C) 200 1 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.