Racial Differences in the Short Term Response of Circulating Leptin, Insulin, and Glucose to a Mixed Lunch Meal in Lean and Obese Premenopausal Women

Abstract

Exogenous leptin has been shown to decrease caloric intake and increase energy expenditure in rodents. Human studies designed to examine the relationship between caloric intake and circulating leptin, however, have yielded conflicting results that include increases, decreases and no change in leptin following fasting or feeding. Although the reasons underlying these conflicting results are not apparent, it may include differences in experimental paradigms (race, gender, menopausal status etc.) that may differ from one experiment to another. To this end, we examined the effect of a 1,000 calorie lunch meal on serum leptin changes over a 3 hour period in young lean and obese premenopausal Caucasian and African-American women. The results of these studies show no racial differences in fasting leptin levels and no racial differences in how a lunch meal alters circulating leptin levels.

Keywords:

• Leptin
• Glucose
• Insulin
• Hormone
• Meal