Maternal fasting blood lipids: a marker of severity of pre-eclampsia in Jos, north-central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Pre-eclampsia is a common medical disorder of pregnancy, in Nigeria, and has been reported to be characterized by blood lipid derangements with oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction.

Objective:

Methods and materials: This was comparative cross-sectional study, amongst women with Preeclampsia. Fasting venous blood samples were taken into plain vacuitainers and analyzed in batches after days for serum lipids using Cobas C-III Roche auto analyzer machine. The data were analysed using Epi-info version 3.5.4 The duration of study was for about seven month's period

Results: The mean serum levels of triglycerides in mild pre-eclampsia was 1.13±0.50mmo/L, while in severe pre-eclampsia=2.22±0.92mmo/L, p-value=0.00001. Other lipid components: Total cholesterol, High density lipoprotein, Low density lipoprotein were not significantly different in the two studied groups (p>0.005) Multiple linear regressions model revealed serum triglycerides had the highest standardized absolute coefficient of 0.332 and lead value of 0.591.

Conclusion: Serum triglycerides alone, appear to be a significant predictor of severity of pre-eclampsia; hence can serve as a surveillance tool during conservative management of pre-eclampsia.

Keywords: Maternal, Serum, lipids, Pre-eclampsia, Triglycerides, Total cholesterol, Low-density lipoprotein and High-density Lipoprotein