SFEBES2009 Poster Presentations Pituitary (65 abstracts)
Hypothalamic resistance to signals of energy reserve, rather than excess appetite stimulation, may contribute to obesity in CP patients
Rachel K Crowley , Patricia Barrett , Conor Woods , Michelle Fleming , Lucy Ann Behan , Eoin P O’Sullivan , Bairbre Rogers , Amar Agha , Diarmuid Smith & Christopher J Thompson
Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Obesity is a recognised complication of craniopharyngioma (CP), but its aetiology is not understood. Leptin, which signals energy reserve, and ghrelin, which regulates appetite, are implicated in the development of obesity.
Our aim was to assess leptin and ghrelin levels in CP patients and to compare these to normal and BMI-matched controls.
CP patients were identified from the local database. All CP patients were on hormone replacement therapy where clinically indicated. Fasting blood samples were taken from 13 CP patients and from seven obese or overweight controls and 11 normal weight controls at 0800 h. Ghrelin and leptin levels were assayed using radioimmunoassay kits (Mediagnost). Results were compared using the t-test or Wilcoxon’s test, as appropriate. Statistical significance was accepted at P< 0.05.
| Diagnosis | CP (n=13) | Overweight (n=7) | Normal (n=11) |
| BMI kg/m2 (median, IQR) | 32.3 (31–35) | 28.2 (26–34.7) | 21.6 (20.5–23.5)a |
| Ghrelin pg/ml (median, IQR) | 910 (749–1117) | 931 (693–1249) | 1051 (819–1214) |
| Leptin ng/ml (median, IQR) | 20.9 (10.3–39) | 17.4 (7.3–27.1) | 8.3 (4.5–10.2)b |
Data were described with median and interquartile range (IQR). aDifference between normals and CP / overweight, P<0.05. bDifference between CP and normals only, P<0.05. | |||
Ghrelin levels did not differ among the 3 groups, which implies that abnormal appetite signalling is not the cause of obesity in CP. However, leptin levels were higher in CP patients, which suggests that there may be hypothalamic resistance to signals of energy reserves in the CP group.
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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