ABSTRACT
Diabetes mellitus is the most common endocrine metabolic disorder of childhood. Leptin a hormone produced by adipocytes is essential for proper growth and development. Acting primarily on the hypothalamus, and has effects on appetite, energy expenditure and the neuroendocrine axis. The present study was designed to estimate serum leptin levels in type 1 diabetes mellitus and its correlation to age, sex, growth and BMI. The study was conducted on 20 patients [8 males and 12 females] with IDDM and 10 healthy children as control group [8 males and 2 females]. They were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, assessment of weight, height, and BMI Serum leptin was measured by ELISA technique, Fasting, and two hours post prandial Blood glucose and serum insulin level were measured. Our results show: serum leptin level was insingnificantly lower in males than females, there was significant positive correlations between leptin level and body weight and BMI. positive correlation between serum leptin and serum insulin levels. But no significant correlations was found between serum leptin and Blood glucose level