Relationship of Serum Leptin with Menarche and Pubertal Stages in young girls

Abstract

Background: Leptin hormone is considered to plays an important role in the regulation of puberty in adolescent girls. It varies widely during different stages of puberty and has some relationship with menarche and pubertal stages. Aim: To have a visual clarification for effect of Serum leptin level on pubertal stages in Pakistani girls. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional analytic study. One hundred and fifty two girls were selected from different schools and colleges of Lahore. The sample was divided into 10 groups, comprising approximately 15 girls in each age group with age range of 8.0 to 17.99 years. Their demographic data was recorded. Age of menarche was obtained through a questionnaire. Stages of puberty were determined by inspection and palpation according to Tanner’s staging system. Blood samples were collected to determine the serum leptin level by ELISA method. Data was entered into SPSS (Statistical package for social sciences) version 16 and analyzed. Spearman’s correlation test was applied to observe the correlation between the serum leptin and stages of puberty. Results: The mean age at menarche was 12.76±1.24 years. Mean serum leptin value was 6.653±7.11 ng/ml in over all groups. Serum leptin concentration progressively increased with advancement of mean pubertal stages (P< 0.000). Leptin concentration showed a positive correlation wih mean pubertal stages (rho = 0.349, and P<0.000) and pubertal levels (rho = 0.395, and p <0.000). The serum leptin concentration in pre menarcheal and post menarcheal girls were 4.63±4.74 and 8.62±8.41 ng/ml respectively (P <0.000). Conclusion: Higher serum leptin level leads to an early onset of puberty and menarche.