Total, free and bound leptin and thyroid function in elderly women with different body weights
Massimiliano Ruscica
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
These authors have contributed equally to this work.
Search for more papers by this authorElena Dozio
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
These authors have contributed equally to this work.
Search for more papers by this authorSara Gandini
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy and
Search for more papers by this authorPierluigi Gnocchi
Unità Operativa di Medicina Generale, Istituto Palazzolo, Fondazione Don Gnocchi Onlus, Milan, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorGuya Giuseppina Devalle
Unità Operativa di Medicina Generale, Istituto Palazzolo, Fondazione Don Gnocchi Onlus, Milan, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorMarcella Motta
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
Search for more papers by this authorElio Roti
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
Search for more papers by this authorPaolo Magni
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
Search for more papers by this authorMassimiliano Ruscica
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
These authors have contributed equally to this work.
Search for more papers by this authorElena Dozio
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
These authors have contributed equally to this work.
Search for more papers by this authorSara Gandini
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy and
Search for more papers by this authorPierluigi Gnocchi
Unità Operativa di Medicina Generale, Istituto Palazzolo, Fondazione Don Gnocchi Onlus, Milan, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorGuya Giuseppina Devalle
Unità Operativa di Medicina Generale, Istituto Palazzolo, Fondazione Don Gnocchi Onlus, Milan, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorMarcella Motta
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
Search for more papers by this authorElio Roti
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
Search for more papers by this authorPaolo Magni
Istituto di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy,
Search for more papers by this authorSummary
Objective The present study was aimed at evaluating the relationship of total leptin, and its free leptin (FL) and bound leptin (BL) fractions with adipose mass in very old euthyroid women, in relationship to thyroid function.
Subjects and methods Twenty-five older women (age: 73–95 years) were studied. Subjects representing underweight, normal weight and overweight/obese conditions were included. Plasma leptin, TSH, free T4 (FT4) and free T3, (FT3) total and HDL cholesterol were measured. FL and BL were evaluated by Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC) analysis.
Results Plasma leptin concentration was positively correlated with body mass index (BMI) (r = 0·64, P = 0·0005) and tricipital skin-fold thickness (TF) (r = 0·46, P = 0·0187). Leptin was positively correlated with TSH (r = 0·50, P = 0·0116) and inversely with FT3 (r = –0·40, P = 0·0477). TSH correlated with the adiposity indexes BMI (r = 0·40, P = 0·05) and TF (r = 0·42, P = 0·0336). Plasma FT3 was positively correlated with FT4 (r = 0·49, P = 0·012). FL and BL were evaluated in 8 out of 25 subjects. FL positively correlated with BMI (r = 0·81, P = 0·0218) and leptin (r = 0·83, P = 0·0004), whereas BL did not correlate with these parameters.
Conclusions The present results indicate that in very old women, plasma leptin concentrations reflect the extent of adipose mass and suggest that a complex regulatory interaction exists between leptin and thyroid function, possibly taking place at central (hypothalamus–pituitary) and peripheral (deiodinase activity) levels.
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