Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To measure serum leptin and insulin levels in women with recurrent pregnancy loss using modified methods of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and to examine their influence on recurrent loss at different pregnancy trimesters. METHODS: A case control study was conducted from, 1 September 2008 to 30 December 2009 in the Obstetric and Gynecological Department-Al-Khadimiya Teaching Hospital. HPLC technique with new modified method was used to estimate serum leptin and insulin hormones in samples of women with recurrent pregnancy loss (patients group, n=64) and healthy pregnant women at the end of the third gestational trimester as a control group (n=51). RESULTS: Both serum leptin and insulin levels were high in women with pregnancy loss in their three trimesters. A significant correlation was found between age (r=0.535, p<0.018) and serum total leptin in women with RPL during the first trimester. Also, a highly significant correlation was found between serum total leptin and insulin in women with RPL during the first, second and third trimesters (r=0.894, r=0.931, and r =0.995) respectively. The number of women who lost their pregnancy during the first trimester was higher than those losing during other trimesters. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that recurrent pregnancy loss in women at different trimester is associated with endocrine abnormalities where serum leptin and insulin levels increase in a different way compared with normal healthy pregnant women.