Does leptin resistance contribute to infections in patients with diabetes?

doi:10.1136/mp.56.4.248-a

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Molecular Pathology 2003;56:248; doi:10.1136/mp.56.4.248-a

Molecular Pathology 2003;56:248
© 2003 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. & Association of Clinical Pathologists

CORRESPONDENCE

Does leptin resistance contribute to infections in patients with diabetes?

G N Malavige

University of Sri Jayawardanapura, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Gangodawila Nugegoda, Sri Lanka; lasantha_m@sltnet.lk

Keywords: cell mediated immunity; diabetes; infections; leptin; lymphocytes

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Leptin is a protein hormone structurally similar to interleukin2, which regulates food intake and metabolic and endocrine function.¹It also has an important regulatory role in the immune response,mainly acting as a T cell growth factor.² Moreover, it alsoeffects cytokine production, monocyte/macrophage activation,wound healing, angiogenesis, and haemopoiesis.¹ Leptin concentrationsrapidly increase during infection and inflammation. The lowconcentrations of leptin that can occur during starvation ormalnutrition are associated with impaired cellular immunity,impaired delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, and thymicatrophy, and thereby contribute to increased susceptibilityto infection.²

High leptin concentrations are seen in obese and diabetic individuals,with the concentrations of leptin rising with increasing insulinresistance.³ However, despite high leptin concentrations, theseindividuals have leptin resistance or defective leptin.⁴ Therefore,leptin resistance, along with many other factors, may also contributeto the increased incidence of infection seen among patientswith diabetes, who are more . . . [Full text of this article]