Study of Ghrelinand LeptinHormones Changes in Obese Postmenopausal Patients

Abstract

Obesity is a community health problem affecting over one billion adult persons worldwide.Ghrelin and leptin levels are influenced by body fat and pubertal stage. Leptin is known to play an important role in the pathogenesis of obesity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of the ghrelin and leptin in attempt to assess their role in the pathogenesis of obesity inpostmenopausal women. Methods: This study was performed on sixty postmenopausal obese patients and 30 healthy controls. All obese patients have body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 Kg/m2.Among healthy persons, those with a BMI<30 kg/m² were selected as the control group.Ghrelin and leptin concentrations were measured by ELISA method. Results:Leptin levels were significantly higher in obese postmenopausal women compared to controls.On the contrary, ghrelin levels were significantly lower in postmenopausal obese patients in comparison with the control group.Present study revealed significant negative correlation between ghrelin and BMI (P≤ 0.001), and revealed significant positive correlation between leptin and BMI (P≤ 0.001). Conclusion: From these results, the increase in leptin levels together with the decrease of ghrelin levelsprobably fails to suppress appetite in obese postmenopausal women and leptin concentration could be considered a good marker of the amount of body fat in obese conditions and could be used as a line of treatment.