Abstract
During pregnancy, metabolic changes that develop in women may increase the risk of diseases and conditions that may also harm the life of the growing fetus. The aim of the present study was to identify and compare the metabolic profile (MP) during pregnancy in two birth cohorts in 2010 in the cities of Ribeirão Preto (RP) and São Luís (SL), Brazil. Pregnant women (1393 in RP and 1413 in SL) were studied; information was obtained through questionnaires in addition to anthropometric, biochemical, and blood pressure measurements. Data are presented as means and proportions. To compare the characteristics of pregnant women in both cities, chi-squared and Student's t-tests were applied, with 5% significance level. Ribeirão Preto presented higher mean values than SL for pre-gestational body mass index (24.5 vs 23 kg/m2, P<0.001), systolic (108.4 vs 102.8 mmHg, P<0.001) and diastolic (65.9 vs 61.8 mmHg, P<0.001) blood pressure, total cholesterol (226.3 vs 213.7 mg/dL, P<0.001) and fractions, and glycemia (84.5 vs 80.2 mg/dL, P<0.001), except for triglycerides (P=0.135). Women from RP also showed higher rates of pre-gestational overweight and obesity compared with SL (40.1 vs 25.8%). In the present study, pregnant women in RP had a worse gestational metabolic profile than those in SL, with higher pre-gestational excess weight, indicating that nutritional transition was more advanced in the more developed city.
Highlights
Brazil and several other Latin American countries have been experiencing a rapid demographic, epidemiological, and nutritional transition in the last twenty years [1]
Non-white women were almost double in São Luís (SL) (83.8%) than Ribeirão Preto (RP) (48.5%), but RP presented a higher percentage of women from the higher economic classes A1/A2 (1.5 vs 0.5%) (Table 1)
Compared with SL, pre-gestational BMI, blood pressure, and all biochemical tests were significantly higher in RP, except for triglycerides
Summary
Brazil and several other Latin American countries have been experiencing a rapid demographic, epidemiological, and nutritional transition in the last twenty years [1]. The marked increase in the prevalence of obesity in various population subgroups, including pregnant women, is noteworthy [1]. Pregnancy induces remarkable changes in maternal metabolism to support fetal demands [2,3]. In some women the changes may be harmful and associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes; for example, gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, and preterm birth [3,4,5]. Serum lipid levels begin to increase from the 9th to the 13th week of gestation and peak at the 31st to 36th week [7]. It’s important to evaluate these levels during pregnancy, since lipid profile disorders are recognized to be involved in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease and diabetes [8,9,10,11]
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