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SERUM LEPTIN CONCENTRATION IN A RURAL AFRICAN POPULATION
Abstract
Objective: To determine the serum leptin concentration in a cohort of healthy rural Africans,
it's relation to the commonly used anthropometric measures of obesity and its relation to the
patterns of distribution of fat in the body.
Design: A cross-sectional population survey.
Setting: Baziya area, Transkei region, South Africa.
Subjects: One hundred and thirty five(79 females and 56 males) healthy adults from the
Baziya location, Transkei aged 17-70 years were selected by stratified random sampling.
Measurements: Anthropometric measurements of height, weight, and skinfold thickness at
the biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac sites and derived total body fat and ratios of
fat distribution. Fasting serum leptin using the sandwich ELISA method.
Results: Skinfold measurement wassignificantly higher in the females than the males throughout
the age range. Centralisation of body fat to the trunk was significantly greater in the males than
in the females. Serum leptin concentration was higher in the females (mean = 13.5 ng/ml; 95 %
confidence interval = 10.0 - 16.8) than in the males (mean = 5.2 ng/ml; 95 % confidence interval
= 2.8 - 7.6) (p<0.001). The gender difference in leptin concentration persists when expressed as
serum leptin per kilogram of fat mass (serum leptin (ng/ml)/FM). The mean value for the males
was 5.1 ng/ml/kg (95 % confidence interval = 2.9 - 7.3) compared to the mean value for females
of 6.9 ng/ml/kg (95 % confidence interval = 5.4 - 8.3)(p<0.05). In the females BMI and body fat
were significant contributors to the variance in serum leptin. In the males the upper-to-lower
trunk skinfold thickness ratio and BMI were the significant contributors to the variance in
serum leptin concentration. Deposition of fat in the abdomen did not have a significant
contribution to the variance in circulating leptin in both sexes.
Conclusion: Serum leptin concentration in rural Africans is similar to that observed in other
communities with the exception that regional fat distribution has a significant influence on
the leptin levels in the males.
it's relation to the commonly used anthropometric measures of obesity and its relation to the
patterns of distribution of fat in the body.
Design: A cross-sectional population survey.
Setting: Baziya area, Transkei region, South Africa.
Subjects: One hundred and thirty five(79 females and 56 males) healthy adults from the
Baziya location, Transkei aged 17-70 years were selected by stratified random sampling.
Measurements: Anthropometric measurements of height, weight, and skinfold thickness at
the biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac sites and derived total body fat and ratios of
fat distribution. Fasting serum leptin using the sandwich ELISA method.
Results: Skinfold measurement wassignificantly higher in the females than the males throughout
the age range. Centralisation of body fat to the trunk was significantly greater in the males than
in the females. Serum leptin concentration was higher in the females (mean = 13.5 ng/ml; 95 %
confidence interval = 10.0 - 16.8) than in the males (mean = 5.2 ng/ml; 95 % confidence interval
= 2.8 - 7.6) (p<0.001). The gender difference in leptin concentration persists when expressed as
serum leptin per kilogram of fat mass (serum leptin (ng/ml)/FM). The mean value for the males
was 5.1 ng/ml/kg (95 % confidence interval = 2.9 - 7.3) compared to the mean value for females
of 6.9 ng/ml/kg (95 % confidence interval = 5.4 - 8.3)(p<0.05). In the females BMI and body fat
were significant contributors to the variance in serum leptin. In the males the upper-to-lower
trunk skinfold thickness ratio and BMI were the significant contributors to the variance in
serum leptin concentration. Deposition of fat in the abdomen did not have a significant
contribution to the variance in circulating leptin in both sexes.
Conclusion: Serum leptin concentration in rural Africans is similar to that observed in other
communities with the exception that regional fat distribution has a significant influence on
the leptin levels in the males.
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