Leptin pathway in hypertension development in obesity

Selective leptin resistance helps explain how high levels of circulating leptin in obesity may contribute to hypertension and sympathetic overdrive despite resistance to metabolic effects of this hormone. Long-term renal sympathetic stimulation caused by high leptin levels could raise renal sympathetic tone, leading to hypertension, while loss of leptin's ability to decrease food intake and increase thermogenesis promotes obesity by increasing adiposity.