Lipid levels in very low birthweight preterm infants

Free fatty acid (FFA), triglyceride (TG),total cholesterol (T-C), VLDL + LDL-C, HDL-C and its subfractions were determined in 18 very low birthweight (birthweight: 1064 +/- 179 g; gestational age: 28.7 +/- 1.6 weeks, mean +/- SD) preterm infants on postnatal days 1, 14, 28, 42 and 56 (data are given in mmol/l). FFA levels remained low throughout the study (day 1: 0.13 +/- 0.09 ... day 28: 0.15 +/- 0.06...day 56: 0.16 +/- 0.06). TG levels increased significantly from day 1 to 14 and from day 14 to 28 (day 1: 0.61 +/- 0.26, day 14: 1.14 +/- 0.28, day 28: 1.70 +/- 0.89), thereafter they remained unchanged. T-C levels increased significantly from day 1 (2.29 +/- 0.83) to day 14 (3.05 +/- 0.71), continued to increase up to day 28 (3.34 +/- 1.58), subsequently decreasing to the level of day 1 (day 56: 2.63 +/- 0.87). More marked alterations were seen in VLDL + LDL-C (day 1: 1.51 +/- 0.70, day 28: 2.32 +/- 1.34, day 56: 1.76 +/- 0.74), whereas in HDL-C it was HDL2-C that changed significantly.