Original Article

Midtrimester Amniotic Fluid Leptin and Insulin Levels and Subsequent Gestational Diabetes
Rosario D'Anna^a, Giovanni Baviera^a, Maria L. Cannata^a, Antonio De Vivo^a, Antonino Di Benedetto^b, Francesco Corrado^a

Departments of
^aObstetrics and Gynecology and
^bInternal Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Address of Corresponding Author

Gynecol Obstet Invest 2007;64:65-68 (DOI: 10.1159/000099149)

  Key Words

• Leptin
• Insulin
• Gestational diabetes mellitus
• Amniotic fluid

  Abstract

Aims: To evaluate midtrimester amniotic fluid leptin levels in pregnancies subsequently complicated by gestational diabetes. Methods: We studied 32 pregnant women with gestational diabetes and a control group of 43 normal pregnancies with an adequate gestational age fetus. All underwent a midtrimester amniocentesis: leptin and insulin were measured in the amniotic fluid. Data were compared with the Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: Median leptin concentrations in the amniotic fluid of the gestational diabetes mellitus patients were significantly higher than in the control group (15.1 vs. 7.9 ng/ml) (p = 0.001); amniotic insulin concentrations were also higher in the gestational diabetes mellitus than in the control group (0.67 vs. 0.38 µU/ml) (p = 0.02). Furthermore, amniotic fluid leptin levels were directly correlated with amniotic insulin concentrations; instead, there was no correlation with maternal BMI and birth weight. Conclusion: Our data suggest that in pregnancies subsequently complicated by gestational diabetes, amniotic fluid leptin and insulin levels are higher in the early fetal period.

Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Rosario D'Anna, MD
via Setaioli 15
IT-98121 Messina (Italy)
Tel. +39 090 363 137, Fax +39 090 695 201
E-Mail rosariodanna@tin.it

  Article Information

Received: August 9, 2006
Accepted after revision: December 18, 2006
Published online: January 30, 2007
Number of Print Pages : 4
Number of Figures : 0, Number of Tables : 1, Number of References : 26