Ethnic differences in maternal total cholesterol and triglyceride levels during pregnancy: the contribution of demographics, behavioural factors and clinical characteristics.
OBJECTIVE
Lipid disturbances during pregnancy may lead to early onset of metabolic diseases in the offspring. However, there is little knowledge on ethnic differences in lipid levels during pregnancy. We evaluated ethnic differences in non-fasting total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels during early gestation and the role of demographics, behavioural factors and clinical characteristics.


METHODS
Non-diabetic pregnant women (N=3025) from the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD) study. The studied ethnic groups were Dutch, Surinam-Hindustani, African-Caribbean, Turkish, Moroccan and Ghanaian. A multilingual questionnaire was used to gather information on maternal demographics, behavioural factors and clinical characteristics. Non-fasting TC, TG, percentage saturated fatty acid (%SFA) and percentage linoleic acid status (%LA) were assessed in blood samples collected at the first antenatal visit.


RESULTS
Ghanaian (-0.51 mmol/l), African-Caribbean (-0.19 mmol/l) and Moroccan (-0.15 mmol/l) women had significant lower TC levels compared with Dutch women. TG levels were lower in Ghanaian (log transformed -0.12 mmol/l) but significantly higher in Surinam-Hindustani (0.10 mmol/l) and Turkish women (0.07 mmol/l). Age, physical activity, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), smoking, %SFA and %LA were independently related to TC and/or TG. However, only pre-pregnancy BMI could partly explain observed disparities. Furthermore, pre-pregnancy BMI had a relatively large effect on TG levels in Surinam-Hindustani and Turkish women.


CONCLUSIONS
TC and TG levels differed between ethnic groups during early gestation. Only pre-pregnancy BMI partly explained the ethnic differences to a relevant degree. Reduction in BMI before pregnancy may improve lipid profile, especially in Surinam-Hindustani and Turkish women.
Department of Public Health, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Y J
YJ
Schreuder
B A
BA
Hutten
M
M
van Eijsden
E H
EH
Jansen
M N
MN
Vissers
M T
MT
Twickler
T G M
TG
Vrijkotte
D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D001519:Behavior; D015992:Body Mass Index; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000208:ethnology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D009018:Morocco / Q000208:ethnology; D009426:Netherlands; D011247:Pregnancy; D013532:Suriname / Q000208:ethnology; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology
D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol