Leptin Responsiveness to Energy Restriction: Genetic Variation in the Leptin Receptor Gene

Serum leptin concentrations are an important afferent signal in energy balance homeostasis. It has been speculated that the leptin responsiveness to energy restriction is affected by the functionality of the leptin receptor. The purpose of this analysis was to explore the effect of polymorphisms in the LEPR gene on the acute decline in leptin after 4 days of 65% energy restriction. Leptin concentrations of the study group (n = 44; all men) declined by 2.3 ± 1.5 μg/L [–39.4% (95% confidence interval: ?43.6 to ?34.9)]. Leptin responses did not statistically differ between noncarriers and carriers of three mutant variants of the polymorphisms: Lys109/Lys109 (?41.4%) vs. Arg109/+ (?37.0%) (p = 0.33); Gln223/Gln223 (?41.5%) vs. Arg223/+ (?37.8%) (p = 0.40); Lys656/Lys656 (?39.5%) vs. Asn656/+ (?39.3%) (p = 0.96). No effect of the assessed polymorphisms in the LEPR gene on the acute decline in leptin after energy restriction was observed. Power calculations are provided for future studies on the leptin responsiveness to energy restriction.