Serum concentrations of lipids and apolipoproteins in normal and hyperemetic pregnancies

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HEG) is intractable nausea and vomiting. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that women with HEG have lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, to find any role in the etiology of reduced risk of spontaneous abortion in hyperemetic patients.

The study group consisted of 39 women with normal ongoing pregnancy and 35 women with HEG. The concentrations of triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo)-A and -B were analyzed. The independent-samples t test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi2 test, Kruskal-Wallis variance analysis and Spearman's correlation were used to examine differences between groups.

Serum HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol, apo-A and apo-B were higher in normal pregnancies compared with hyperemetic pregnancies. There were no significant differences in apo-B/apo-A, HDL cholesterol/apo-A and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratios between the hyperemetic patients and controls. A negative correlation was found between total cholesterol and serum thyroxine level.

We found decreased levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, apo-A and apo-B in hyperemetic patients and the same spontaneous abortion rate in the two groups in our study.