Copyright
©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Serum leptin level in Sudanese women with unexplained infertility and its relationship with some reproductive hormones
Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, Musa Ahmed, Adesina Oladokun, Nasir Adam Ibrahim, Shahd Nourain Adam
Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, Musa Ahmed, Department of Reproductive Health Sciences, Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 119, Oyo, Nigeria
Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, Musa Ahmed, Adesina Oladokun, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 119, Oyo, Nigeria
Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Gadarif, Gadarif 208, Sudan
Musa Ahmed, Department of Veterinary Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, AL-Salam University, Al-fula 120, West Kordofan, Sudan
Nasir Adam Ibrahim, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh 13318, Saudi Arabia
Nasir Adam Ibrahim, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Al-butana, Ruffaa 210, Sudan
Shahd Nourain Adam, College of Nursing, University of Bahri, Khartoum 12217, Sudan
Author contributions: Abdulslam Abdullah A, Ahmed M, Oladokun A, Ibrahim NA, and Adam SN analyzed and interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript; Abdulslam Abdullah A and Oladokun A designed the study and directed implementation and data collection; Abdulslam Abdullah A, Ahmed M, Oladokun A, Ibrahim NA, and Adam SN edited the manuscript for intellectual content and provided critical comments on the manuscript; and all authors gave final approval of the version to be published, have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol and procedures were approved by the University of Ibadan/University College Hospital Ethics Committee (Ref. No. UI/EC/20/0438), and the Federal Ministry of Health Republic of Sudan (Ref. No. 4-12-20).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all the study participants, and all necessary information regarding the study (objectives, requirements of the participants, and duration of the study) were given to the prospective study participants on an information sheet in Arabic to ensure an informed decision to participate in the study. Then, the full case history of the participants was taken through clinical examinations and laboratory investigations. Ethical notions such as discretion/confidentiality, free consent of the interviewees as well as beneficence and non-maleficence to participants were scrupulously respected.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report having no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used during this study are available from the principal investigator upon reasonable request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, MSc, Academic Researcher, Department of Reproductive Health Sciences, Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute, University of Ibadan, Ajibode Road, 200132, Ibadan 119, Oyo, Nigeria. bahlol32029@gmail.com
Received: August 22, 2022
Peer-review started: August 22, 2022
First decision: September 26, 2022
Revised: September 30, 2022
Accepted: November 23, 2022
Article in press: November 23, 2022
Published online: November 27, 2022
BACKGROUND
The excessive concentration of leptin has negative effects on all aspects of female reproduction. Despite this established relationship, the exact role of leptin in women’s fertility is not clear enough and needs more clarification.
AIM
To evaluate the serum leptin levels in Sudanese women and to ascertain the relationship between serum leptin levels and unexplained infertility (UI).
METHODS
A matched (age and body mass index) case-control study was conducted from March 2021 to February 2022. The study samples were 210 women with UI and 190 fertile women of reproductive age who were attending the maternity hospitals and fertility clinics in Khartoum state Sudan. The serum concentration of leptin and other serum biomarkers were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.
RESULTS
The results showed that there was a highly statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001) for all examined eight biomarkers. Whereby, leptin, luteinizing hormone (LH)/follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio, prolactin hormone (PRL) and testosterone (T) were significantly higher in the UI group compared with the control group. In contrast, FSH and estradiol (E2)/T ratio were significantly lower in the UI group than in the control group and the effect size test for the difference between the two groups was very large (effect size > 0.80), for leptin level, LH/FSH ratio, PRL level, and E2/T ratio, and large (effect size 0.50- ≤ 0.80) for FSH and T.
CONCLUSION
This study reveals that leptin could be a potential biomarker for UI in Sudanese women and it may be useful for identifying women with a high risk of infertility.
Core Tip: A matched (age and body mass index) case-control study was conducted to find the serum leptin levels in Sudanese women and to ascertain the relationship between serum leptin levels and unexplained infertility (UI). A total of 400 women of reproductive age were recruited for this study (210 with UI and 190 fertile women). Leptin, luteinizing hormone/follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio, prolactin hormone and testosterone (T) were significantly higher in the UI group compared with the control group. In contrast, FSH and estradiol/T ratio were significantly lower in the UI group than in the control group. Thus, this study reveals that leptin could be a potential biomarker for UI in Sudanese women and it may be useful for identifying women with a high risk of infertility.
