Hypomethylation of the LEP gene in placenta and elevated maternal leptin concentration in early onset pre-eclampsia

► In early onset pre-eclampsia the placental LEP promoter is hypomethylated. ► Leptin is elevated in maternal plasma from these individuals. ► In the placenta, expression of LEP alleles appear to be randomly skewed. ► In early onset pre-eclampsia there is a tendency for biallelic LEP expression. ► This may be associated with loss of methylation and increased leptin expression.