Breast milk leptin: its relationship to maternal and infant adiposity.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Leptin, the product of the obese gene (ob), is synthesized by adipose tissue and contributes to the regulation of energy homeostasis and food intake. Recently, immunoreactive leptin was reported to be present in human milk. The objective was to determine if there was a relation between breast milk leptin concentrations and adiposity in exclusively breast-fed infants. METHODS: Fifty healthy, exclusively breast-fed infants beyond neonatal period, and their mothers were included into the study. Infants whose weight-for-length was above the 90th percentile were defined as obese (n=17), and non-obese if the weight for length between 20-90th percentile (n=33). Anthropometric measurements of infants and mothers were also made and breast milk samples were analyzed for leptin. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between breast milk leptin concentrations of obese and non-obese infants' mothers. Breast milk leptin concentrations were significantly correlated with mothers' body mass index when all subjects analyzed. There was no significant correlation between breast milk leptin concentrations and body mass index of infants. CONCLUSIONS: Leptin concentrations of human milk are not different in the mothers of obese and non-obese infants. These findings suggests that milk-borne leptin has no significant effect on adiposity during infancy.

Guillain-Barré syndrome in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

A 4-year-old boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia receiving maintenance treatment developed quadriparesis, facial palsy, difficulty in swallowing, and hypertension following a respiratory infection and candida septicemia. Examination of the cerebrospinal fluid was normal initially but later showed albuminocytologic dissociation, the characteristic finding of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Complete recovery occurred after treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin. Differential diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome from vincristine toxicity in patients with leukemia and possible association with the infections are discussed.

Excitatory amino acids and taurine levels in cerebrospinal fluid of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in newborn.

The recent studies indicating the transiently enhanced expression of excitatory amino acid receptors in hypoxia vulnerable brain regions and the elevated concentration of aspartate and glutamate in cerebrospinal fluid of asphyxiated newborns strongly suggest the role of excitatory amino acids in hypoxic ischemic brain damage in the developing human brain. In this study, we compared the concentrations of glutamate, aspartate, taurine and glycine in the cerebrospinal fluid of asphyxiated infants with values of a healthy control group. The concentrations of aspartate (5.82 +/- 3.36), glutamate (1.76 +/- 1.0) and taurine (9.32 +/- 9.1) were significantly elevated in cerebrospinal fluid of asphyxiated infants (P < 0.05). When compared to the control group, the high levels of aspartate was correlated with the degrees of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and the varying outcome. The high levels of aspartate and glutamate in the asphyxiated patients adds further evidence to the role of excitotoxicity in hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. The mental and motor development of the patients in asphyxiated group was followed for 3 years.

Role of excitatory aminoacids in neonatal hypoglycemia.

BACKGROUND: In many neurological disorders, injury to neurons may be due in part to overstimulation of the receptors for the excitatory amino acids glutamate and aspartate. The same excitotoxic mechanism and high aspartate levels in experimental studies led to this study of the concentrations of glutamate and aspartate and zinc, copper, and magnesium levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of hypoglycemic newborns. METHODS: Aspartate and glutamate were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, and magnesium, zinc and copper by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. RESULTS: The CSF levels of aspartate (3.98 +/- 1.77 mumol/L) and glutamate (1.7 +/- 1.05 mumol/L) in 20 hypoglycemic newborns were significantly higher when compared with the values of aspartate (2.19 +/- 0.6 mumol/L) and glutamate (0.77 +/- 0.34 mumol/L) of 10 control newborns. In the hypoglycemic patients, the concentration of zinc (0.57 +/- 0.13 microgram/mL), but not copper (0.39 +/- 0.40 microgram/mL) was significantly lower when compared with the control values. There was no difference in the magnesium levels between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The higher levels of excitatory amino acids found in the CSF of hypoglycemic infants than in controls were consistent with previous animal studies, which may indicate the role of excitatory amino acids in the late biochemical effects of hypoglycemia in newborn brain metabolism.