Objectives: Leptin, is a fat tissue hormone which effects energy expenditure, food intake , hematopoiesis, osteogenesis, angiogenesis, reproductive and immune systems. We aimed to determine serum leptin levels and investigate the association between disease activity and other parameters in RA patients.
Methods: Patients with RA (n=106) as the study group, healthy controls (n=52) and osteoarthritis (OA) patients (n=37) as a control group were enrolled to the study. RA patients were categorized in four different groups according to DAS28 scores: remission ,low (LDA), moderate (MDA) or high (HDA) disease activity .
Results: No differences were present between the body mass indices of the three groups. Mean leptin levels in RA patients, OA group and healthy individuals were 25,60 ± 13,41, 23,03 ± 11,51 and 23,81 ± 12,85 ng/ml, respectively and no significant difference was present between the groups. Nine of (8,5%) RA patients were in remission, 16 (15,1%) were in LDA, 40 (37,7%) in MDA and 41 (38,7%) were in HDA. Leptin levels did not correlate with DAS28 scores of RA patients (r=-0,12, p=0,11). Mean leptin levels in RA patients with remission was 32,65 ± 7, 28 in LDA 23,94 ± 10,94 in MDA 26,73 ± 14,92 and in HDA 23,59 ± 13,50 ng/ml (p=NS). No associations were observed between leptin levels and CRP, ESR, RF positivity and disease duration.
Conclusions: Our study revealed no correlation of disease activity and serum leptin levels. Therefore leptin does not seem to be an appropriate biomarker to monitorize inflammation in RA.