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Published on: March 13, 2014
Plasma lipids during pregnancy in women in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
A C Ojule1, C I Akani, H C Opurum
1Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Background:
Pregnancy in Caucasian women is known to be associated with hyperlipidaemia. In a background of poor socio-economic conditions, early marriage, poor acceptance of contraceptives, poor spacing of pregnancies, high fertility rate and poor maternal and child health indices, this study was designed to investigate the pattern and degree of serum lipid changes during pregnancy in black African women in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Methods:
Two hundred and thirty apparently healthy pregnant women at different stages of pregnancy and 51 non-pregnant control subjects of comparable age, height, and parity were serially recruited into the study. Plasma total cholesterol (TCHOL), LDL-Cholesterol (LDL-CHOL), HDL-Cholesterol (HDL-CHOL) and triglycerides (TG) were estimated for all study subjects and mean plasma lipid levels calculated for first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy.
Results:
There was an increase in the mean concentration of plasma TCHOL, HDL-CHOL, and TG and a decrease in LDL-CHOL in the pregnant subjects as compared to the non-pregnant control subjects. Mean TCHOL, HDL-CHOL, LDL-CHOL and Triglycerides tended to increase with increasing gestational age.
Conclusion:
The results show that pregnancy in black Nigerian women is associated with hyperlipidaemia. The implications of this finding are discussed.
