THE ROLE OF LEPTIN 1IN ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION

Abstract

Leptin, which is an adipocyte-specific obese gene product plays a role in food intake suppression, thermogenesis and energy expenditure through the activation of the hypothalamus. Insulin resistance was related to an elevated plasma level of

leptin.

To evaluate the role of leptin in essential hypertension, two

groups of subjects who were carefully matched for body mass index (BMI) were studied, 40 normotensives (NT, age 43 ±4.5 years, BMI 24.8±4.4 Kg/m2 , male/female 24116) and 40 mild to moderate essential hypertensives (EHT, age 48 ±4.5 years, BMI 28.4±5.8 Kg/m2 , male/female 18:22).

Essential hypertensives showed higher basal serum immunoreactive leptin level (22.6±17.3 versus 7.22±17.3 ng/ml, p < 0.01) than normotensives. The relationship between mean blood pressure (MBP) and leptin showed a significant positive correlation in all of the subjects (r=0.62664, p<0.001), suggesting that leptin may be related to pathophysiology of essential hypertension.