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Ethnic differences in maternal total cholesterol and triglyceride levels during pregnancy: the contribution of demographics, behavioural factors and clinical characteristics

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 65, pages 580–589 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

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.

Subjects/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.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all participating hospitals, obstetric clinics and GPs for their assistance in the implementation of the ABCD study. We thank all the participated pregnant women for their co-operation. We thank D Bijlenga for her statistical advice, JSL de Munter for his help with calculating MET scores and Professor K Stronks for her critical comments on the manuscript. Financial support for the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development study was granted by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), The Hague. Dr ThB Twickler is financially supported by the Netherlands association of medical science (NWO-ZonMW).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Y J Schreuder & T G M Vrijkotte

  2. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    B A Hutten

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Documentation and Health Promotion, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    M van Eijsden

  4. Laboratory for Health Protection Research, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    E H Jansen

  5. Department of Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    M N Vissers & M T Twickler

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  1. Y J Schreuder
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Correspondence to T G M Vrijkotte.

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Details of Ethics Approval

Approval for the ABCD study was obtained from the Central Committee on Research involving Human Subjects (CCMO; number P02.0335L, 2002), the Medical Ethical Committees of participating hospitals and the Registration Committee of Amsterdam.

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Schreuder, Y., Hutten, B., van Eijsden, M. et al. Ethnic differences in maternal total cholesterol and triglyceride levels during pregnancy: the contribution of demographics, behavioural factors and clinical characteristics. Eur J Clin Nutr 65, 580–589 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.282

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