Cord Blood Lipid Profile in Premature, Near-Term and Term Newborn Infants

Abstract

Introduction: The fetus needs a considerable amount of cholesterol for the development of tissues and organs. Studies have suggested that genetic and environmental factors influence the composition of cord blood lipoproteins. In this study, we aim to assess the effect of gestational age, sex and birth weight on the cord blood lipoproteins. Methods: We collected umbilical cord blood samples from 91 newborn infants, delivered normally, or by caesarean section. According to their gestational age, the samples were divided into 3 groups: the premature (≤ 34 weeks of gestational age), the near-term (35 – 37 weeks of gestational age), and the term group (≥ 38 weeks of gestational age). Serum was used to measure cholesterol, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) by the enzymatic auto-analyzer. SPSS 17 software was used for ANOVA test, Student t-test and Spearman correlation test. P-value less than 0.05 was regarded as significant. Results: The results of this study indicate that gender has no effect on the level of lipid in the samples; it doesn’t affect the subgroups, either. The serum level of cholesterol is inversely correlated with neonatal gestational age, and the neonatal body weight (P < 0.05). Only in the term subgroup, high positive correlation is observed between the triglyceride level and gestational age (P <0.05). All other subgroups show no significant correlation between the lipids and age or weight. Conclusion: The cord blood cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL are not affected by the gender of the newborns. Cholesterol level is inversely correlated with the gestational age and birth weight, and this could be regarded as a risk factor for atherogenic lipoprotein metabolism, later on in life.