Serum Leptin Levels Among Chronic Kidney Diseased Subjects With Hypertensive Heart Disease Attending Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

ABSTRACT Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious public health issue. Leptin, a peptide hormone produced by the adipocytes is very important in the regulation of food and energy. Increased Leptin concentrations are seen in CKD, and have been observed to trigger further complications such as cardiovascular diseases with significant mortality. Despite the interrelationship between leptin and CKD, and their associated adverse health outcomes, the precise role of leptin in hypertensive heart disease and CKD is not fully known, and the few studies in this area have been inconsistent. . General aim: This study aimed at evaluating serum leptin levels among CKD patients with hypertensive heart disease (HHD) attending the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study involving one hundred and eight (108) participants – seventy-two (72) CKD subjects and thirty-six (36) apparently healthy controls. Fasting venous blood samples were collected from the study participants and resulting sera, evaluated for leptin and other biochemical parameters. An independent-samples t-test was used to determine difference in clinical and biochemical parameters between study groups. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors of serum leptin in the CKD and control groups. Results: Results show significantly higher serum leptin levels among participants with CKD compared with the control group (p < 0.0001). In the CKD group, being at stage 5 made the largest unique contribution (beta = 0.37, p < 0.0001) to the variance in serum leptin levels, followed by HDL (beta = 0.269, p < 0.0001), FBG (beta = 0.267, p = 0.001), HHD diagnosis of more than 6 years (beta = -0.217, p = 0.020), systolic BP (beta = 0.201, p = 0.030), female gender (beta = 0.191, p = 0.006), Body Mass Index (BMI) (beta = 0.18, p = 0.017), and LDL (beta = 0.177, p = 0.037). In the control group, female gender made the largest unique contribution (beta = 0.709, p < 0.0001)  followed by BMI (beta = 0.341, p < 0.0001), and eGFR (beta = -0.222, p = 0.011). Conclusions: Serum leptin levels were significantly higher among CKD subjects co-burdened with HHD in Accra. Stage 5 CKD was the most significant predictor of serum leptin. These findings underscore the role of leptin in the biochemical complexities observed in CKD subjects looking at the physiological functions of leptin.