title: Anti-oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) antibody levels are not related to increasing circulating oxLDL concentrations during the course of pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To address the question of whether the high levels of oxidative modified low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) in pregnancy are opposed by an appropriate humoral autoimmune response providing anti-oxLDL autoantibodies in maternal serum of healthy women throughout gestation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood was taken from 33 patients at four different time points from early to late gestation and post-partum. OxLDL and anti-oxLDL concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. ANOVA was used for statistical evaluations followed by post hoc test with Bonferoni adjustment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Oxidized Low Density Lipoprotein concentrations increased while anti-oxLDL levels decreased significantly from early to late gestation. OxLDL was strongly positively correlated with LDL concentration and mildly negatively associated with anti-oxLDL levels. Estimating the status of oxidation by calculating oxLDL/LDL ratio revealed decreasing values with ongoing pregnancy. Multivariate analysis showed that anti-oxLDL levels were dependent on gestational age but neither on oxLDL levels nor on the oxLDL/LDL ratio.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that normal pregnancy is a well-balanced state of oxidative and anti-oxidative processes. However, we could not confirm a dependence of anti-oxLDL autoantibodies on oxLDL concentration. Whether or not the humoral immune system is involved in oxidative defence remains to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany. upecks@ukaachen.de
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pecks
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tillmann
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Nicolai
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maass
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Meinhold-Heerlein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; C099252:oxidized low density lipoprotein