BACKGROUND/AIMS Leptin has been recently implicated in the development of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. The serum levels of leptin are known to be strongly affected by anthropometric parameters such as body mass index (BMI) and total body fat, which show differences between races or ethnicities. In this study, we examined whether serum leptin levels are correlated with clinical, virological, and histological features, and with response to antiviral therapy in Korean CHC patients.

METHODOLOGY We evaluated correlations between serum leptin level and age, sex, BMI, fasting glucose, alanine aminotransferase, genotype, hepatitis C virus RNA titer, steatosis, fibrosis, and response to antiviral therapy after 24 weeks completing 24 weeks of interferon-alpha based therapy in 47 Korean CHC patients.

RESULTS Of the variables examined, only female sex and a BMI > 25kg/m2 were identified as independent variables related to a higher leptin level by multivariate analysis. Baseline leptin levels and leptin changes before/after antiviral therapy were not correlated with response to therapy.

CONCLUSIONS In Korean CHC patients, serum leptin levels were found to be correlated with anthropometric parameters, but not with virological or histological features. In addition, serum leptin levels did not predict response to antiviral therapy.