Effects of Dietary and Physical Activity Intervention during Pregnancy on Circulating Leptin and Adiponectin Levels

Objective: We investigated whether lifestyle intervention during pregnancy modifies pregnancy leptin and adiponectin levels, adipokines and their association with body mass index (BMI). Methods: Of the 126 pregnant nulliparous women recruited, 43 in the intervention and 56 in the control group completed the study. Blood samples were collected on gestation weeks 8 10 (baseline) and weeks 36 38 (end of the intervention). Statistical analyses included group-based correlations between adipokines, pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain and covariance analysis including all confounding factors. Results: Pre-pregnancy BMI correlated with baseline (p = 0.023 and p = 0.079) and end leptin levels (p = 0.128 and p < 0.001). Similarly, gestational weight gain correlated with both baseline (p = 0.009 and p = 0.046) and end leptin levels (p = 0.065 and p = 0.011). BMI at the end of pregnancy correlated with the end leptin levels, but the correlation was weaker in the control (p = 0.043) than intervention women (p < 0.001). Control women having the highest pre-pregnancy BMI tended to exhibit the lowest increase in leptin levels during pregnancy (p = 0.10), whilst in the intervention group, women who had the highest pre-pregnancy BMI exhibited the highest increase in pregnancy leptin (p = 0.058). In covariance analysis including all covariates change in leptin was associated with gestational weight gain (p = 0.036), but change in adiponectin was not (p = 0.93). Conclusion: In contrast to the control group, women in the life-style intervention group exhibited a stronger association between gestational weight gain and leptin levels, indicating that they maintained insulin sensitivity.