Haffejee, FirozaNaicker, ThajasvarieSingh, MoganavelliKharsany, Ayesha B.M.Adhikari, MiriamSingh, RaveshMaharaj, NirenMoodley, Jagidesa2017-02-202017-02-202016-10-03Haffejee, F. et al. 2016. Placental leptin mRNA expression and serum leptin levels in pre-eclampsia associated with HIV infection. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology : 1-5.0144-3615 (Print)1364-6893 (Online)http://hdl.handle.net/10321/2279Leptin, primarily produced by adipocytes, is implicated in the development of pre-eclampsia. This study examines placental leptin production and serum leptin levels in HIV infected and uninfected normoten-sive and pre-eclamptic pregnancies. Placental leptin production was analysed by RT-PCR and serum lep-tin levels by ELISA in normotensive (n ¼ 90) and pre-eclamptic (n ¼ 90) pregnancies which were further stratified by HIV status. Placental leptin production was higher in pre-eclampsia compared to normoten-sive pregnancies irrespective of HIV status (p ¼ .04). Serum leptin was non-significantly raised in HIV uninfected (p ¼ .42) but lower in HIV-infected (p ¼ .03) pre-eclampsia. The latter had lower BMI (p ¼ .007) and triceps skin-fold thickness (p < .001) than the HIV uninfected groups with a significant correlation between serum leptin and triceps skin-fold thickness (p < .001), indicative of less adipose tissue in HIV-infected women with consequently lower serum leptin. Thus, serum leptin levels are not indicative of increased placental production when pre-eclampsia is associated with HIV infection.6 penLeptin mRNAHIVPre-eclampsiaArticlehttps://doi.org/10.1080/01443615.2016.1209170