Serum leptin levels and insulin resistance are associated with gallstone disease in overweight subjects

AIM: An association between gallstones disease and insulin resistance has been observed, and also the role of leptin has been suggested, but was not proved. The aim of this study was to establish an association between the serum leptin levels and the development of gallstone disease (GD). METHODS: We carried out a non-matched case-controlled study in a university hospital in Mexico City. Two hundred and eighty-seven subjects were included: 97 cases with gallstones and 190 controls. Body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma leptin, insulin, serum lipid, and lipoprotein levels were measured. Insulin resistance was calculated by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR). Unconditional logistic regression analysis (univariate and multivariate) stratified by BMI was used to calculate the risk of GD. RESULTS: The multivariate conditional regression analysis revealed a model for those patients with BMI <30. The selected variables in the model were HOMA-IR index with OR = 1.31, P = 0.02 and leptin higher than median with OR = 2.11, P = 0.05. In the stratum of BMI 30, we did not find a useful model. CONCLUSION: We concluded that insulin resistance and the development of GD appears to be associated with serum leptin levels in subjects with overweight, but not in obese subjects with similar metabolic profiles. (C) 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.