Leptin concentration in breast milk and its relationship to duration of lactation and hormonal status

Table 1 Serum leptin, cortisol, insulin, thyroxine, estradiol and prolactin concentrations during days 1–180 postpartum

Lactation period	N	Leptin	Cortisol	Insulin	Thyroxine	Estradiol	Prolactin
		(ng/ml)	(μg/dl)	(μIU/ml)	(μg/dl)	(pg/ml)	(ng/ml)
1–3 postpartum days	37	16.6 ± 1.7	38.9 ± 2.9	13.0 ± 2.3	11.9 ± 0.5	148 ± 20	264 ± 19
4–14 postpartum days	27	14.2 ± 1.9	19.2 ± 1.4*	11.6 ± 1.5	10.8 ± 0.3	47 ± 5*	155 ± 11*
15–30 postpartum days	16	13.8 ± 1.6	21.7 ± 2.2*	11.1 ± 1.0	7.9 ± 0.4*	55 ± 4*	135 ± 17*
31–90 post partum days	37	13.2 ± 1.6	17.1 ± 1.9*	15.2 ± 2.2	7.3 ± 0.3*	51 ± 8*	85 ± 9*
91–180 postpartum days	43	10.2 ± 1.4*	18.3 ± 1.1*	11.2 ± 1.3	7.3 ± 0.2*	49 ± 7*	44 ± 5*

Blood samples collected from 160 healthy lactating women at 1–180 days, grouped into five intervals: 1–3 days (colostrum), 4–14 days (transitional milk), 15–30 days (early mature milk), 31–90 days (mature milk) and 91–180 days (late mature milk).
Statistical analyses of the log values of serum leptin, cortisol, insulin, thyroxine, estradiol and prolactin concentrations were performed with one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's multiple comparison method.
*p < 0.05-0.001 when compared with the observed values for days 1–3.

ISSN: 1746-4358