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Observational Study
. 2014;81(1):13-9.
doi: 10.1159/000355387. Epub 2013 Dec 11.

Maternal leptin predicts adiposity of the neonate

Jami L Josefson  1 , Dinah M Zeiss, Alfred W Rademaker, Boyd E Metzger
Affiliations
Observational Study

Maternal leptin predicts adiposity of the neonate

Jami L Josefson et al. Horm Res Paediatr. 2014.

Abstract

Background: Increased adiposity at birth may identify infants at high risk of developing obesity. Maternal obesity and hyperglycemia in pregnancy are associated with increased neonatal adiposity; however, features of maternal obesity that contribute to increased neonatal adiposity need further study.

Aims: To measure adiposity in neonates of obese and normal-weight women without gestational diabetes to test the hypothesis that obese women have neonates with increased adiposity compared to neonates of normal-weight women.

Methods: Sixty-one pregnant women, with a normal or obese BMI, and their neonates participated in this cross-sectional study at an academic medical center. Neonatal adiposity, expressed as percent body fat (fat mass/body mass), was measured by air displacement plethysmography and cord blood was assayed for biomarkers.

Results: Adiposity in neonates of obese and normal-weight mothers did not differ. Stratifying mothers by leptin level showed that neonates born to mothers with higher leptin had significantly higher adiposity (13.2 vs. 11.1%, p = 0.035). In the entire cohort, adiposity positively correlated with cord blood leptin (r = 0.48, p < 0.001) and adiponectin (r = 0.27, p = 0.04) levels.

Conclusion: Obesity in normoglycemic pregnant women was not associated with increased neonatal adiposity. High maternal leptin levels identified neonates with increased adiposity.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Correlations between newborn percent body fat and cord blood leptin (a) and adiponectin (b).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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