Role of Leptin in Febrile Urinary Tract Infection

Background: Leptin is a hormone that plays an important role in human health against infections. Some studies have reported that leptin acts as a reactant phase marker in some infectious diseases. The role of leptin in febrile urinary tract infection (UTI) has not been adequately evaluated. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the role of serum leptin in febrile UTI in children. Methods: Thirty-nine febrile UTI patients were compared with 40 healthy children for the serum leptin level. Serum leptin was measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The results were compared between the groups. Results: Median (IQR) of serum leptin in the case and control groups was 2 ng/mL and 0.6 ng/mL, respectively. A significant difference was observed between the groups in the serum leptin level (P = 0.001). No significant difference was observed between cystitis and acute pyelonephritis patients in the serum leptin level. The correlation analysis showed no significant association between the serum leptin level and acute-phase reactant markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (r = -0.13 and P = 0.41; r = -0.15 and P = 0.36, respectively). Conclusions: The present study showed that although serum leptin increases in febrile UTI, this increase is not correlated with Creactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Also, this marker cannot discriminate between cystitis and acute pyelonephritis.