Abstract

ASSOCIATION OF MATERNAL OBESITY AT BIRTH WITH INCREASED OFFSPRING BODY SIZE AND SERUM LEPTIN

*Neveen Helmy Abou El-Soud, Nahla Abdel Moniem Barakat, Mai Mahmoud Youssef, Manal Abdel Moniem Mohsen, Gamila Mohamed El-Saeed

Abstract

Background: Maternal obesity and weight gain during pregnancy are risk factors for child obesity. There is a potential role of leptin in the regulation of body weight, energy expenditure and therefore fetal growth and development. The aim of this study was to examine the association of maternal obesity at birth with offspring body size and serum leptin. Subjects and methods: Two hundred mothers at delivery with their term healthy human newborns were enrolled in this study. One hundred mothers of them were obese (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2 ) and one hundred act as control (BMI between 20 - 24.9 kg/m2) . Neonatal weight, length, head circumference and ponderal index were determined. Leptin concentrations in venous cord blood were measured using specific enzyme –linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results: Neonates of obese mothers had significantly higher levels of leptin (21.17±16.7 vs 11.33±10.55 ng/ml, p <0.001) , birth weight (3.64±0.32 vs 3.2±0.67 kg, p < 0.05), ponderal index (3.24±0.38 vs 2.77±0.65 gm/cm3 , p < 0.05) when compared to non-obese group. Cord serum leptin was found to correlate with maternal BMI (r =0.46 , p < 0.05) and neonatal body measurements; weight (r =0.50 , p < 0.01) , length (r =0.59 , p < 0.001) , head circumference (r =0.56 , p < 0.01) and ponderal index (r = 0.40 , p < 0.05). Conclusion: Maternal obesity at delivery is associated with increased neonatal serum leptin and body size with high risk of children obesity later in life.

Keywords: Maternal obesity ; neonatal birth size ; leptin.