The correlation between blood lipids and intrahepatic cholestasis syndrome during pregnancy

Abstract

Background To analyse changes in lipid levels during the development of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) and identify new biomarkers for predicting ICP. Methods A retrospective case-control study was conducted to analyse 473 pregnant women who underwent regular prenatal examinations and delivered at the Women and Children’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, between June 2020 and June 2023, including 269 normal pregnancy controls and 204 pregnant women with cholestasis. Results Patients with ICP with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels than in those without GDM. Total bile acid (TBA) levels were significantly higher in pregnant women with GDM than those without. The apolipoprotein A (APOA) level was lower in patients with ICP and hypothyroidism than those without hypothyroidism. TBA levels were significantly higher in pregnant women with hypothyroidism than those without. Triglyceride (TG) levels were significantly higher in patients with preeclampsia (PE) than those without. HDL and APOA levels were lower in women with ICP complicated by preterm delivery than those with normal delivery. The AUC (area under the curve) of the differential diagnosis of cholestasis of pregnancy for the APOA/APOB (apolipoprotein B) ratio was 0.727, with a sensitivity of 85.9% and specificity of 47.5%. Conclusions The results suggested that dyslipidaemia is associated with an increased risk of ICP and its complications. The timely detection of blood lipid and bile acid levels can assist in the diagnosis of ICP and effectively prevent ICP and other complications.