BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Leptin, an important hormone for body weight regulation, may be involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular manifestations of obesity. We tested whether leptin may be an independent risk marker for stroke in a case-referent study.
METHODS: Definitive acute stroke events, defined by MONICA criteria, were identified from October 1, 1995 to April 30, 1999. Referents without known cardiovascular disease were randomly selected from a population census. Patient characteristics were taken from hospital files and leptin was analyzed in stored samples. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine possible differences in leptin levels between groups.
RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-seven cases with ischemic stroke and 69 cases with hemorrhagic stroke were identified. In comparison with referents, male patients with stroke had significantly higher leptin levels. Both male and female stroke patients had increased blood pressure compared with the referents. In multivariate analyses, high leptin levels were associated with both ischemic (OR = 4.89; 95% CI: 1.89-12.62) and hemorrhagic (OR = 3.86; 95% CI: 1.13-13.16) stroke in men, and with ischemic stroke in women (OR = 4.10; 95% CI: 1.45-11.62). The combination of high leptin levels and increased blood pressure (systolic or diastolic) was associated with a strong positive interaction in males with hemorrhagic stroke.
CONCLUSION: Leptin may be an important link for the development of cerebrovascular disease in the insulin resistance syndrome in men.