Department of Geriatric Medicine, Karolinska Institute at the Centre for Inflammation & Hematology Research, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden. tommy.cederholm@ger.svso.sll.se
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate serum leptin, a fat cell-derived protein, levels in relation to the malnutrition often observed in chronic disease. DESIGN: A comparison of circulating leptin concentrations in malnourished chronically ill elderly and in age-matched controls. SETTING: A university-affiliated teaching hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. SUBJECTS: Nineteen protein-energy malnourished elderly patients (74 +/- 1 years) with various chronic nonmalignant diseases and 18 healthy controls (72 +/- 1 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum leptin levels measured by radioimmunoassay technique, nutritional status as expressed by body mass index (kg m[-2]), triceps skin fold, arm muscle circumference and serum albumin, and serum orosomucoid concentrations indicating inflammatory status. RESULTS: Patients and controls displayed body mass indexes of 17.4 +/- 0.7 and 25.0 +/- 1.1 (P