Effect of a cholesterol-lowering diet during pregnancy on maternal and fetal Doppler velocimetry: the CARRDIP study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a low-cholesterol low-saturated fat diet on Doppler indices in the fetus and mother. Two hundred ninety nonsmoking white women, aged 21-38 years, without previous pregnancy complications and carrying a single fetus were assigned randomly to continue their usual diet (control subjects; n = 149) or to adopt a low-cholesterol low-saturated fat diet (intervention group; n = 141) from gestational week 17-20 to birth. Doppler velocimetry of the umbilical artery and both uterine arteries were assessed at gestational weeks 24, 30, and 36. The physiologic gestational decrease in umbilical artery pulsatility index (PI) from week 24-30 was more pronounced in the intervention group, compared with the control group, with median values (interquartile range) of -0.17 (-0.29, -0.06) and -0.11 (-0.25, 0.01), respectively (P = .048). Assignment to the intervention diet did not influence the changes in mean PI value of the 2 uterine arteries (P = .3). The change in umbilical artery PI and mean PI value of the uterine arteries between weeks 24 and 36 were not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 1.0 and .2 respectively). Our study shows that a cholesterol-lowering diet during pregnancy may modify fetoplacental circulation in mid pregnancy.