Premium
Relationship of serum leptin concentration and other measures of adiposity with gallbladder disease
Author(s) -
Ruhl Constance E.,
Everhart James E.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1053/jhep.2001.29005
Subject(s) - medicine , body mass index , waist , gallstones , gallbladder , leptin , gallbladder disease , anthropometry , gastroenterology , endocrinology , obesity
Obesity increases the risk of gallstones, especially in women. Most gallbladder disease studies have used body mass index (BMI) as a measure of overall adiposity, although BMI does not distinguish between fat and lean body mass. Central adiposity may also increase gallstone risk, although this is less well studied. Leptin is a peptide whose serum concentration is highly correlated with total body fat mass. We examined the relationship of gallbladder disease with anthropometric measures and serum leptin concentration in a large, national, population‐based study. A total of 13,962 adult participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey underwent gallbladder ultrasonography and anthropometric measurements of BMI, body circumferences, and skinfold thicknesses, and a random subgroup of 5,568 had measures of fasting serum leptin concentrations. Gallstone‐associated gallbladder disease was defined as ultrasound‐documented gallstones or evidence of cholecystectomy. When controlling for BMI and other gallbladder disease risk factors in multivariate analysis, a test for trend for increasing waist‐to‐hip circumference ratio and risk of gallbladder disease was statistically significant among women ( P = .043) and men ( P = .007). BMI remained strongly associated with gallbladder disease among women ( P < .001), but was unrelated among men ( P = .46). Leptin concentration was associated with gallbladder disease in both sexes ( P < .001), but not after controlling for BMI and waist‐to‐hip circumference in either women ( P = .29) or men ( P = .65). In conclusion, waist‐to‐hip circumference ratio was related to gallbladder disease among women and men. Serum leptin concentration was not a better predictor of gallbladder disease than anthropometry.