Reference Ranges for Leptin:

Adult Lean Subjects (18-71 years) with BMI range of 18-25:

Males:

0.3-13.4 ng/mL

Females:

4.7-23.7 ng/mL

Adult Subjects (19-60 years) with BMI range of 25-30:

Males:

1.8-19.9 ng/mL

Females:

8.0-38.9 ng/mL

Pediatric Reference Ranges for Leptin:

5-9.9 years:

0.6-16.8 ng/mL

10-13.9 years:

1.4-16.5 ng/mL

14-17.9 years:

0.6-24.9 ng/mL

- This test measures the amount of leptin in your blood.

- This test is used to figure out how much body fat you have.

- This test can also be used to assess infertility and look at people with delayed puberty.

Leptin is a hormone that helps regulate your body weight by controlling your appetite and energy level.

Generally, the amount of leptin in your blood is related to the amount of fat tissue in your body. Leptin is released into your blood by your fat stores. Its main job is to tell your brain to stop eating. Researchers believe some people may have leptin in their body, but it doesn't signal to the brain that they are full. Or their brain is resistant to the signal, so they keep eating.

Obesity is a serious condition that can cause a number of life-threatening diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and cancer.

Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone essential for normal body weight regulation. Production is under neuroendocrine control such that blood levels vary directly with the amount of triglyceride stored in adipose tissue depots; there is a negative correlation between leptin and testosterone blood levels.

Leptin acts through specific receptors in the hypothalamus to modulate appetite and thermogenesis; increased levels suppress appetite and increase thermogenesis. Leptin deficiency leads to hypopituitarism including gonadotropin, growth hormone, and thyroid deficiencies. Gene mutations resulting in leptin deficiency or leptin receptor defects lead to massive obesity.