Study: High Leptin Levels in Obese People May Boost Risk of Blood Clots

High levels of leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells, may increase a person's risk of developing blood clots, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Leptin is released by fat cells and relays the message to stop eating in normal people, as well as playing a role in regulating a person's energy balance. Leptin levels become too high in obese people, impairing these functions.

Prior studies have shown that obese people are at a higher risk for developing potentially fatal blood clots than normal-weight people but researchers were not sure of the cause.

Researchers developed a study that studied the effects of leptin levels on the formation of blood clots in laboratory mice. A group of overweight mice was genetically engineered to lack the gene associated with the production of leptin. The blood of the obese mice took an average of 75.2 minutes to clot, about twice as long as the blood of normal mice which clotted in 42.2 minutes.

When researchers injected the mice with leptin, their blood clotting time dropped to within normal limits, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers advise that losing fat is the best way for an obese person to lower potentially dangerous leptin levels and decrease their chance of developing dangerous blood clots.

Other sources: Journal of the American Medical Association