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COVID-19, Anxiety, and Body Mass Index Increase Leptin Levels: a Cross-sectional Multicentric Study

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Abstract

Although many efforts have been made to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of COVID-19, critical gaps remain to be explored. This study aimed to investigate potential alterations in adipokine levels (specifically adiponectin, leptin, and resistin) among individuals with COVID-19. Within this population, we further assessed the association between these markers with both, body mass index (BMI) and psychiatric symptoms. This cross-sectional study included an age- and sex-matched sample of adults with COVID-19 (cases) and without COVID-19 (controls). We evaluated the severity of psychiatric symptoms, BMI, and adipokines. Individuals with COVID-19 presented greater BMI, stress levels, and leptin levels when compared to controls. Leptin levels were greater in individuals with moderate/severe COVID-19 as compared to individuals with COVID-19 who were asymptomatic or having mild symptoms. Leptin levels were positively correlated with BMI, severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms, and stress levels in the total sample. Leptin levels were also positively correlated with BMI, severity of anxiety symptoms, and stress levels in controls. In cases, there was a positive correlation between adiponectin and the severity of depressive symptoms and stress levels and leptin/resistin with BMI. A linear regression model revealed that BMI, severity of anxiety symptoms, and the diagnosis of COVID-19 are independently associated with increased leptin levels. Thus, leptin levels seem to be impacted by the COVID-19 infection, anxiety, and BMI.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the people who participated in this study. Our research team, for their help in recruiting the patients. The whole UNESC and Federal University of the Southern Frontier, including interviewers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists, and drivers. GZR is a 2 CNPq Research Fellow.

Funding

This research was supported by grants from CNPq (GZR) “MCTIC/CNPq/FNDCT/MS/SCTIE/Decit No 07/2020,” FAPESC (GZR), and UNESC (GZR, JQ, and LBC).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, 88806-000, Brazil

    Gislaine Z. Réus, Kelen C. C. Recco, Karynne M. S. H. Machado, Ritele H. Silva, Camila O. Arent, Graziela Amboni, Flávia S. Niero, Lucas C. Pedro, Laura A. Borba & João Quevedo

  2. Laboratory of Physiology Pharmacology and Psychopathology, Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of the Southern Frontier, Chapecó, SC, Brazil

    Margarete D. Bagatini, Gabriela G. de Oliveira, Alana Patrícia da Silva, Maiqueli Eduarda D. Mingoti & Zuleide Maria Ignácio

  3. Laboratory of Experimental Neurology, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, Health Sciences Unit, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Fernanda F. Gava & Fabricia Petronilho

  4. Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders, Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA

    João Quevedo

  5. Graduate Program in Public Health, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, Brazil

    Luciane B. Ceretta

  6. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Taiane de Azevedo Cardoso

Authors
  1. Gislaine Z. Réus
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  2. Kelen C. C. Recco
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  3. Karynne M. S. H. Machado
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  4. Ritele H. Silva
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  7. Flávia S. Niero
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  8. Lucas C. Pedro
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  10. Margarete D. Bagatini
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  11. Gabriela G. de Oliveira
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  19. Taiane de Azevedo Cardoso
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Contributions

Conceptualization: GZR, ZMI, JQ, TAC, and LBC. Formal analysis: TCA. Funding acquisition: GZR. Investigation and methodology: KCCR, KMSHM, RHS, COA, GA, FSN, LCP, LAB, MDB, GGO, APS, MEDM, FFG, FP. Project administration: GZR and ZMI. Resources: GZR, LBC, and JQ. Supervision: GZR. Roles/writing—original draft: TAC and GZR. Writing—review and editing: GZR and TAC.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gislaine Z. Réus.

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Ethics Approval

This study was approved by the ethics committee under protocol numbers 4.172.382 and 4.298.662.

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All participants signed an informed consent form before participating in the study.

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Not applicable.

Competing Interests

Dr. de Azevedo Cardoso is a scientific editor at JMIR Publications. Other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

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Réus, G.Z., Recco, K.C.C., Machado, K.M.S.H. et al. COVID-19, Anxiety, and Body Mass Index Increase Leptin Levels: a Cross-sectional Multicentric Study. Mol Neurobiol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-023-03788-9

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