Yeboah FA, et al. – This study is performed to figure out if serum leptin concentration and body fat percentage are significantly altered amid the first trimester in pregnancies that subsequently develop preeclampsia (PE) and whether such changes are valuable in predicting the disease. The current study showed that leptin levels are increased significantly amid the first trimester of pregnancy in obese women with PE, and these increases precede the onset of PE.

Methods

• For this research, they designed a prospective longitudinal study.
• This study was conducted among pregnant women in Ho municipality.
• In this study, a sum of 314 pregnant women were monitored from the first antenatal visit to delivery period at the Volta Regional Hospital, Ho, Ghana.
• Maternal serum leptin and lipid profile were investigated and body fat percentage was determined amid first trimester.
• They also estimated body mass index in this study.

Results

• First trimester serum leptin level (P<0.0001) and body fat percentage (P<0.0001) were majorly higher in those who developed PE than those who did not; while triglycerides (P=0.8600), total cholesterol (P=0.5620), high–density lipoprotein (P=0.5880), low–density lipoprotein (P=0.4870) and very low–density lipoprotein (P=0.6540) did not demonstrate any major difference between those with PE and those without PE.