Plasma Leptin Concentrations in Preterm Infants with Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)

Introduction Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a postnatal disorder of retinal vessels that develops in the incompletely vascularized retina of preterm infants. This disorder regresses in most patients but can lead to severe visual impairment. There is evidence that leptin stimulates angiogenesis. Objective: This study was conducted to determine blood levels of leptin in premature infants with proliferative ROP. Methods: Blood samples were obtained 6-8 weeks after birth from 71 preterm infants born at or before 32 weeks of gestation. These infants consisted of two groups according their eye examination results. The control group consisted of 41 neonates without evidence of ROP and the case group included 30 patients with proliferative ROP at stage III or more. Plasma leptin concentrations were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The mean gestation age of studied patients at birth were 28.4 +/- 1.6 wk and 28.8 +/- 1.6 in case and control group respectively (P = .25). The mean post menstrual age of studied patients at blood sampling was 34.9 +/- 1.2 wk in the case group and 34.6 +/- 1.3 wk in the control group (p=0.33). Mean blood levels of leptin were not significantly different among patients of the two groups (0.64 +/- 0.41 ng/ml in case group and 0.79 +/- 0.83 ng/ml in control group respectively, p=0.39). Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that plasma leptin concentrations were not significantly different in premature infants with proliferative ROP at 6-8 weeks after birth from premature infants without ROP at this age.