Serum Leptin in Chron Liver Disease

Abstract

Chronic liver disease is defined as a wide variety of disorders that affect the liver and are characterized by clinical, biochemical, and histological features indicative of chronic hepatic inflammation, degeneration and necrosis which often are accompanied by a variable degrees of fibrosis (Klatskin et al,1993).

Chronic liver disease may includechronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (Tsega et a/,1992). Leptin, the product of the ob gene, is a circulating hormone that communicates peripheral nutritional status to hypothalamic centers affecting food intake, energy expenditure and body weight (Goiot et a/,2000).

The elevated circulating leptin in patients \\ith cirrhosis is most likely caused by a combination of decreased renal extraction and increased release from subcutaneous abdominal, femoral, gluteal, retroperitoneal pelvic and upper limb fat tissue areas (Henriksen et al,1999).

Leptin seems in addition to its role in metabolic control to have important roles in reproduction and neuroendocrine signaling (Jolzan et a/,1998). Because anorexia, hypermetabolism, and eleYated cytokine leYels are frequently observed in cirrhosis, we hypothesized that the serum leptin level would be elevated in cirrhosis (McCullough et a/,1998).