title: Maternal plasma cholesterol and duration of pregnancy: A prospective cohort study in Ghana.
abstract: Low plasma cholesterol may be associated with preterm birth; however, results are mixed and limited primarily to high-income countries. Our objective was to determine whether maternal plasma lipid concentrations are associated with pregnancy duration. We performed a nested cohort (n = 320) study of pregnant Ghanaian women enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations were analyzed in plasma at ≤20and 36 weeks gestation as continuous variables and also categorized into low, referent, or high (<10th, 10th-90th, >90th percentile). At ≤20 weeks, plasma lipid concentrations were not associated with pregnancy duration. At 36 weeks, total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations were not associated with pregnancy duration. Higher HDL-C at 36 weeks was associated with a longer pregnancy duration (adjusted β-coefficient ± standard error: 0.05 ± 0.02 days mg-1/dL, p = .02); pregnancy duration was 5.9 ± 2.0 (mean ± standard error) days shorter among women with low HDL-C compared with the referent group (10th-90th percentile) (p = .02) and 8.6 ± 2.6 days shorter when compared with the high HDL-C group (p = .003). Pregnancy duration was 4.9 ± 2.1 days longer among women with low low-density lipoprotein cholesterol at 36 weeks gestation when compared with the referent group (p = .051). Our data suggest that low HDL-C in the third trimester of pregnancy is associated with a shorter duration of pregnancy in this study population but do not support the hypothesis that low total cholesterol is associated with a shorter pregnancy duration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Brietta M
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6056-0585
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Oaks
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Christine P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Laugero
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Seth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adu-Afarwuah
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lartey
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Vosti
authors.affiliation: Department for Paediatrics and Centre for Child Health Research, University of Tampere School of Medicine and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ashorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Dewey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D014280:Triglycerides
keywords: Ghana; cholesterol; maternal health; plasma lipids; pregnancy; preterm birth