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BackgroundPlasma leptin is considered a risk factor for obesity and cardio-metabolic disease, but the link between serum leptin and renal function is still under evaluation. In our study, we focused on the relationship between serum leptin and renal function, and we investigated the relationship in more detail.MethodsThe 396 middle-aged and elderly Taiwanese adults recruited for our health survey were the subject of our research. All participants agreed to participate and signed a consent form before they joined and completed our study. We divided the participants into three groups according to eGFR tertiles and analyzed the parameters between each group. Then, we used Pearson’s correlation test to investigate the relationship between eGFR levels and cardio-metabolic risk factors with adjustment for age. The scatter plot indicates the trend between serum leptin levels and eGFR levels. Participants were reclassified into three subgroups according to their leptin levels and the bar chart reveals the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in each group. Finally, we used multivariate linear regression to evaluate the relationship between serum leptin and eGFR levels with adjustment for age, sex, smoking status, drinking status, body mass index (BMI), uric acid levels, hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), and dyslipidemia.ResultsIn our study, we analyzed the data from 396 eligible participants. A total of 41.4% of the participants were male, and the average age of all participants was 64.81 years ( ± 8.78). The participants in the high eGFR group were more likely to have lower serum leptin levels. Furthermore, eGFR values were negatively correlated with serum leptin levels even after adjustment for age. The prevalence of CKD in the high serum leptin group was higher than that in the low serum leptin group. Serum leptin levels showed significant negative correlations with eGFR levels (β=-0.14, pConclusionAccording to our study, serum leptin levels show a negative relationship with eGFR levels in middle-aged and elderly people in Taiwan. In addition, high serum leptin levels could be an novel marker to survey kidney failure in clinical practices.

BackgroundIt is not certain whether non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or abdominal obesity (AO) has stronger associations with atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD) risk across different genders. The purpose of this study was to determine the gender-based association of NAFLD and AO with subclinical atherosclerosis represented by coronary artery calcification (CAC) and CAD risk by Framingham risk score (FRS).MethodsA total of 1,655 participants in a health-screening program (mean age: 49.44 years; males: 70.33%) were enrolled for analysis. Fatty liver and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) were measured via ultrasonography (US) and multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). The presence of CAC was defined as having a CACS > 0, intermediate to high CAD risk was defined as FRS ≥ 10%, while the presence of AO was defined as having a waist circumference (WC) of ≥90 cm for men and ≥80 cm for women. Participants were categorized into four groups depending on the presence or absence of NAFLD and/or AO.ResultsThe percentage of subjects with CACS > 0 was highest in the AO-only group (overall: 42.6%; men: 48.4%; women: 35.8%); and FRS ≥ 10% was highest in the group with both abnormalities (overall: 50.3%%; men: 57.3%; women: 32.4%). After adjustment factors, the odds ratio (OR) for CAC and FRS was the highest in the group with both abnormalities [men: 1.61 (1.13–2.30) for CACS > 0 and 5.86 (3.37–10.20) for FRS ≥ 10%; women: 2.17 (1.13–4.16) for CACS > 0 and 6.31 (2.08–19.10) for FRS ≥ 10%]. In men, the OR of NAFLD was higher than that of AO [1.37 (1.03–1.83) vs. 1.35 (1.02–1.79) for CACS > 0, 3.26 (2.13–4.98) vs. 2.97 (1.91–4.62) for FRS ≥ 10%]. However, women with AO consistently showed increased OR for CACS > 0 [1.87 (1.11–3.16)] and FRS ≥ 10% [4.77 (2.01–11.34)].ConclusionThe degree of association of NAFLD and AO with CAC and FRS depends on the gender. NAFLD is more closely associated with CACS > 0 and FRS ≥ 10% in men and AO in women, respectively. NAFLD and AO could be considered independent determinants of CAC and FRS by gender.