Fetal leptin and insulin levels only correlate inlarge-for-gestational age infants.

Objective: To determine whether fetal leptin levels correlate with fetal weight and whether such correlation is direct or indirect via insulin or human placental lactogen (hPL), respectively.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of offspring at term (n=175) with over-representation of large-for-gestational age (LGA; n=70) and small-for-gestational age (SGA; n=23) cases in a population of Caucasian women with no pregnancy pathology. Methods: Fetal cord blood was collected after delivery. In several cases (n=62) paired mother-fetus blood samples were obtained. Leptin, insulin and hPL levels were measured by RIA. Anthropometric data (birth weight, body mass index, placental weight) were recorded.

Conclusions: Maternal insulin, hPL and leptin levels were higher than fetal concentrations. Cord blood leptin levels positively correlated with the anthropometric data with stronger correlations in female (0.54