  We investigate the hydrostatic equilibrium of stellar structure by taking
into account the modi- fied La\'e-Emden equation coming out from f(R)-gravity.
Such an equation is obtained in metric approach by considering the Newtonian
limit of f(R)-gravity, which gives rise to a modified Poisson equation, and
then introducing a relation between pressure and density with polytropic index
n. The modified equation results an integro-differential equation, which, in
the limit f(R) \rightarrow R, becomes the standard La\'e-Emden equation. We
find the radial profiles of gravitational potential by solving for some values
of n. The comparison of solutions with those coming from General Relativity
shows that they are compatible and physically relevant.
