Prediction of cord blood leptin on infant’s neurodevelopment: A birth cohort in rural Yunnan, China

Background: Leptin, one of the peptide hormones secreted by adipocytes, plays a vital part in metabolism, but its role in early-life neurodevelopment remains poorly understood. Methods: We performed leptin analysis on 323 cord blood samples collected from a birth cohort in Yunnan rural area, China, and assessed infants' neurodevelopment at one year of age by the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (BSID-III). Multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression models were used to explore the associations between cord blood leptin (CBL) concentrations and infants' neuro-development and the ability of CBL to predict the probabilities of infants' neurodevelopment delay. Results: Overall, 323 infants were included in this study. The median concentration of CBL was 4.7 ng/ml. The proportion of 1-year-old infants identified as being neurodevelopmental delayed was 34.5%, and delays in cognitive, language, and motor domains were 11.1%, 26.6%, and 13.9%, respectively. Multiple linear regression analyses manifested that the CBL concentration (log10-transformed) was positively correlated with the cognitive, language, and motor composite scores in infants, respectively (beta = 7.76, 95%CI: 3.81-11.71; beta = 6.73, 95%CI: 3.41-10.06; and beta = 6.88, 95%CI: 3.48-10.29, respectively). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that compared with the higher, lower CBL (< 4.7 ng/ml) yielded a 1.41-fold increase in the risk of language development delay (OR = 2.41,95%CI: 1.42-4.09), a 1.49-fold higher risk of motor development delay (OR = 2.49, 95%CI: 1.25-4.96), and a 1.71-fold higher risk of neurodevelopment delay (OR = 2.71, 95%CI: 1.64-4.48) among infants. The prediction models showed that the probabilities of development delay in infants' language, motor, and neurodevelopment increased with the decline of CBL concentrations [rs =-0.63 (95% CI:-0.71,-0.56), rs =-0.46 (95% CI:-0.55,-0.38), rs =-0.55 (95% CI:-0.63,-0.46), respectively]. Conclusion: The decline of CBL was associated with the decrease in infants' neurodevelopment scores at one year of age. CBL below 4.7 ng/ml may increase the risk of infants' neurodevelopment delay. The probabilities of infants' neurodevelopment delay increased with the decrease of CBL concentrations. CBL may be a predictor of the probability of children's neurodevelopment delay.