Evidence mapPaperPMID 34684349Full record

SynthesisNutrients2021

Leptin as a Biomarker of Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois, Marion Trousselard, David Thivel, Amanda C Benson, Jeannot Schmidt, Farès Moustafa, Damien Bouvier, Frédéric Dutheil

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Nutrients, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed.

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  11. Observational
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  13. Leptin a potential link between obesity and depression.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2025
    Review
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Leptin Levels in Acute and Recovered Eating Disorders: An Arm-Based Network Meta-Analysis.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2025
    Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-MinoisUniversité Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.ORCID 0000-0002-6556-4187
Marion TrousselardNeurophysiology of Stress, Neuroscience and Operational Constraint Department, French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, IRBA, F-91223 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France.ORCID 0000-0003-0592-4547
David ThivelUniversité Clermont Auvergne, Laboratory of the Metabolic Adaptations to Exercise under Physiological and Pathological Conditions [AME2P], F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.ORCID 0000-0003-4687-3555
Amanda C BensonSport Innovation Research Group, Department of Health and Biostatistics, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2959-8969
Jeannot SchmidtUniversité Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.ORCID 0000-0003-3424-337X
Farès MoustafaEmergency Medicine, CHU Clermont-Ferrand, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.ORCID 0000-0003-0949-1558
Damien BouvierUniversité Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM, GReD, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.ORCID 0000-0002-2707-4320
Frédéric DutheilUniversité Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.ORCID 0000-0002-1468-6029

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLeptin is a satiety hormone mainly produced by white adipose tissue. Decreasing levels have been described following acute stress.

objectiveTo conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine if leptin can be a biomarker of stress, with levels decreasing following acute stress.

methodsPubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and ScienceDirect were searched to obtain all articles studying leptin levels after acute stress on 15 February 2021. We included articles reporting leptin levels before and after acute stress (physical or psychological) and conducted random effects meta-analysis (DerSimonian and Laird approach). We conducted Meta-regressions and sensitivity analyses after exclusion of groups outside the metafunnel.

resultsWe included seven articles-four cohort and three case-control studies-(28 groups) from 27,983 putative articles. Leptin levels decreased after the stress intervention (effect size = -0.34, 95%CI -0.66 to -0.02) compared with baseline levels, with a greater decrease after 60 min compared to mean decrease (-0.45, -0.89 to -0.01) and in normal weight compared to overweight individuals (-0.79, -1.38 to -0.21). There was no difference in the overweight population. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated similar results. Levels of leptin after stress decreased with sex ratio-i.e., number of men/women-(-0.924, 95%CI -1.58 to -0.27) and increased with the baseline levels of leptin (0.039, 0.01 to 0.07).

conclusionsLeptin is a biomarker of stress, with a decrease following acute stress. Normal-weight individuals and women also have a higher variation of leptin levels after stress, suggesting that leptin may have implications in obesity development in response to stress in a sex-dependent manner.

Indexed as

BiomarkersHumansLeptinRegression AnalysisStress, PsychologicalTime FactorsBiomarkersLeptinanxietyappetitemental healthmetabolismpublic health

Identifiers

PMID34684349
PMCPMC8541372

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.