LEP and cirrhosis of liver: Interestingly, Ockenga et al. (2007) analyzed in vivo hepatic substrate and leptin metabolism in 40 patients with liver cirrhosis and 31 healthy controls, showing that patients had bound leptin and soluble leptin receptor levels significantly increased when compared with controls, without changes in free leptin, suggesting a different role for those components in both metabolic and inflammatory processes in cirrhotic patients [42].