Investigation of relationship between leptin and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective To study the relationship between serum leptin concentration and insulin resistance in newly diagnosed nonobese type 2 diabetic patients. Methods The reverse of the product of fasting plasma glucose and insulin(IAI) was used as a parameter to evaluate the degree of insulin resistance. The serum leptin concentrations were measured in 31 normal subjects and 29 newly diagnosed nonobese type 2 diabetic patients by ELISA. Results In newly diagnosed nonobese type 2 diabetic patients , there was a significant negative correlation between serum leptin concentration and IAI(r=-0.37,P0.05), especially in male(r=-0.66,P0.01).leptin was positively associated with fasting serum insulin(r=-0.45,P0.05),and fasting blood glucose(r=-0.37,P0.05).The serum leptin levels were significantly higher in male patients than in normal men(P0.05).Conclusion There is a significant positive correlation between serum leptin concentration and the degree of insulin resistance in newly diagnosed nonobese type 2 diabetic patients. The leptin plays an important role in pathogenesis of type 2 diabete mellitus.