High Serum Leptin Level is Associated with Peripheral Artery Disease in Geriatric Individuals

Summary Background Leptin contributes to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction, and thrombosis. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common manifestation of atherosclerosis and is expected to prevail among geriatric individuals. The present study aimed to determine whether serum leptin level is associated with PAD in a geriatric group. Methods Blood samples were obtained from 60 participants in the study who were >65 years of age. Ankle-brachial index (ABI) values were measured using the automated oscillometric method. PAD was considered to be present if the left or right ABI values were less than 0.90, and these participants were included in the low ABI group. Serum leptin levels were measured using a commercial enzyme immunoassay kit. Results Of these geriatric participants, ten (16.7%) were in the low ABI group. Compared with the elderly participants in the normal ABI group, those in the low ABI group were current smokers (p = 0.048) and had higher serum C-reactive protein (CRP, p = 0.018) and leptin levels (p = 0.005). Multivariate logistic regression analysis of the factors significantly associated with PAD demonstrated that leptin (odds ratio: 1.078, 95% confidence interval: 1.021–1.138, p = 0.006) was an independent predictor of PAD. Female (p = 0.001), body mass index (p = 0.008), and a logarithmically transformed CRP (log-CRP, p = 0.035) were found to be associated with serum log-leptin levels among geriatric participants after multivariate forward stepwise linear regression analysis. Conclusion High serum leptin level is a risk marker for PAD in geriatric individuals.