Clinical significance of detecting the levels of serum leptin and tumor necrosis factor in patients of pregnancy induced hypertension

Objectives To measure the levels of serum leptin and tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α) in patients of pregnancy induced hypertension(PIH),and study the relationship between leptin andTNF-a in PIH.Method Radioimmunoassay was used to measure the levels of serum leptin and TNF-a,in 35 patients with PIH and 21 normal pregnant women.Results(1)The levels of serum leptin in the patients with PIH(32.9±115)ng/ml were higher than those of the normal pregnant women(18.9±3.0)ng/ml,P0.05.There was no significant statistical difference in the levels of serum leptin between the mild PIH group(22.0±4.8)ng/ml and the normal pregnant group(P0.05).The levels of serun leptin in the moderate(31.1±5.2)ng/ml and in the severe(41.8±10.9)ng/ml PIH group were higher than those in the mild PIH group(P0.05) and the normal pregnant group(P0.05).There were significance in the levels of serum leptin among the mild,the moderate,and the severe patients with PIH(respectively,P0.05).(2)The levels of serumTNF-a in the patients with PIH(22.7±11.5)fmol/ml were higher than those of the normal pregnant women(9.2±2.1)fmol/ml,P0.05.There was no significant statistical diference in the levels of serumTNF-α between the mild PIH group(11.5±4.1)fmol/ml and the mormal pregnant group(P0.05).The levels of serum TNF-α in the moderate(19.5±7.4)fmol/ml and in the severe(32.9±8.3)fmol/ml PIH group were higher than those in the mild PIH group(P0.05) and the normal pregnant group(P0.05).There were significant differences in the levels of serum TNF-a among the mild,the moderate,and the severe patients with PIH respectively(P0.05).(3)The levels of serum leptin were positively correlated with those of serum TNF-a in PIH group (r=0.56,P0.01).Conclusions The increased serum TNF-a may be a cause of the increased serum leptin levels in the patients with PIH.