LEP and digestive system infectious disorder: 13 Although V. cholerae is a noninvasive luminal pathogen, recent data suggest that intestinal infection with V. cholerae is also associated with a pro-inflammatory response.14,15 Whether our results suggest that plasma leptin levels fall during the acute stage of cholera, or that a low plasma leptin level places a child at risk of developing clinically symptomatic disease on exposure to V. cholerae, is not clear at present.