Gender differences of cannabis smoking on serum leptin levels: population-based study

This was a cross-sectional population-based study of participants between the ages of 18 and 35 years. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire covering sociodemographic data and the use of psychoactive substances. Leptin levels were measured using a commercial ELISA kit.

Results:

Of the 911 participants, 6.7% were identified as cannabis smokers and had significantly lower leptin levels (p = 0.008). When stratified by gender, there was a significant decrease in leptin levels among male smokers (p = 0.039).

Conclusion:

Cannabis smoking was linked to leptin levels in men, suggesting that the response to biological signals may be different between men and women.

Cannabis sativa; leptin; young adults; gender

Characteristics	Sample distribution	Cannabis sativa smokers	p-value	Leptin levels in total sample	p-value	Leptin levels in Cannabis sativa smokers	p-value
Gender^* * χ2 test, presented as n (%); ^† † Mann-Whitney test;			≤ 0.001		≤ 0.001		0.006
Female	515 (56.5)	17 (27.9)		13.64 (5.55-47.53)		11.91 (5.09-35.84)
Male	396 (43.5)	44 (72.1)		3.55 (1.50-11.53)		1.93 (0.79-26.45)
Ethnicity^* * χ2 test, presented as n (%); ^† † Mann-Whitney test;			0.561		0.533		0.297
Caucasian	630 (75.4)	44 (72.1)			9.71 (3.41-27.25)	4.94 (1.41-15.76)
Non-Caucasian	205 (24.6)	17 (27.9)			7.16 (2.37-25.18)	2.31 (0.78-6.41)
Age (years)^‡ ‡ Student’s t-test, presented as mean ± standard deviation; ^§ § Spearman’s or Pearson’s correlation test;	26.0±5.14	24.13±4.59	0.016	r = 0.041	0.216	r = 0.197	0.346
National Economic Indicator (IEN)^* * χ2 test, presented as n (%); ^\|\| \|\| Kruskal-Wallis, both presented as median and interquartile range.			0.956		0.836		0.552
1 (lowest)	304 (33.4)	24 (39.3)		8.16 (2.82-25.85)		4.94 (1.11-14.87)
2 (middle)	303 (33.3)	13 (21.3)		7.80 (2.67-28.34)		2.10 (0.86-18.10)
3 (highest)	302 (33.2)	24 (39.3)		9.29 (3.61-23.47)		2.38 (1.57-13.19)
Years of schooling^‡ ‡ Student’s t-test, presented as mean ± standard deviation; ^§ § Spearman’s or Pearson’s correlation test;	11.22±3.51	10.92±3.29	0.471	r = -0.042	0.210	r = 0.066	0.630
BMI^‡ ‡ Student’s t-test, presented as mean ± standard deviation; ^§ § Spearman’s or Pearson’s correlation test;	26.04±5.42	24.67±4.26	0.041	r = 0.268	≤ 0.001	r = 0.369	0.006
Abdominal circumference^‡ ‡ Student’s t-test, presented as mean ± standard deviation; ^§ § Spearman’s or Pearson’s correlation test;	85.78±12.84	81.99±12.18	0.020	r = 0.136	0.060	r = 0.129	0.012
Tobacco use^* * χ2 test, presented as n (%); ^† † Mann-Whitney test;			0.638		0.230		0.308
No	683 (75.6)	28 (46.7)		9.20 (3.28-25.72)		3.45 (1.72-11.90)
Yes	221 (24.4)	32 (53.3)		7.60 (2.40-27.41)		4.94 (0.74-22.41)
Alcohol use^* * χ2 test, presented as n (%); ^† † Mann-Whitney test;			0.002		0.006		0.048
No	811 (89.2)	45 (73.8)		9.15 (3.44-25.72)		4.11 (1.49-11.90)
Yes	100 (10.8)	16 (26.2)		3.49 (1.31-22.15)		2.33 (0.81-13.69)
Total	911	61 (6.7)		8.83 (3.01-25.72)

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[1] Correspondence: Jean Pierre Oses, Laboratório de Neurociências Clínicas, Aplicações Tecnológicas em Neurociências, Departamento de Saúde e Comportamento, Centro de Ciências da Vida e da Saúde, Universidade Católica de Pelotas (UCPel), Rua Gonçalves Chaves, 373, sala 418C, CEP 96015-560, Pelotas, RS, Brazil. E-mail: jean.pierre.oses@gmail.com