Journal of Clinical Sciences (Jan 2016)
Circulating levels of plasma lipids and cardiovascular risk in Nigerian women with severe preeclampsia
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Preeclampsia has been associated with disorders of lipid metabolism. In the general population, dyslipidemia has been identified as a cause of endothelial damage and cardiovascular disease. Few studies have evaluated these relationships in Nigerian women with preeclampsia. This study aims to determine the level of plasma lipids in severe preeclampsia and assess the relationship between dyslipidemia, organ damage, and C-reactive protein (CRP) in Nigerian women with severe preeclampsia. Materials and Methods: This was a case-control study conducted on 50 women with severe preeclampsia and 50 with normal pregnancy matched for gestational age. The women were included from the antenatal clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. Informed consent was obtained and sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained using a questionnaire. Blood was collected from the women after an overnight (10-12 h) fast for biochemical analysis. Employing the IBM SPSS statistical software, comparisons of the continuous variables and categorical variables were done using the Student′s t-test and Chi-square test, respectively. Correlation analysis was used to determine the associations between the variables. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were significantly lower (P < 0.0003) and the levels of triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and total cholesterol (TC) were significantly higher in women with severe preeclampsia compared to the controls (P < 0.0005, P < 0.007, P < 0.009, respectively). The HDL/LDL ratio was significantly lower and CRP was significantly higher in severe preeclampsia (P < 0.0001 and P ˂ 0.0002, respectively). The lipid profile parameters showed a significant association with the markers of organ dysfunction. TG showed a statistically significant correlation with uric acid, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). HDL showed a statistically significant correlation with uric acid, ALP, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), SBP, and DBP. While TC showed a statistically significant correlation with SBP and DBP, TG, in addition, had a statistically significant correlation with CRP in women with severe preeclampsia. Conclusion: Severe preeclampsia is associated with dyslipidemia, which has been linked to organ damage and an increased cardiovascular risk in Nigerian women. Although dyslipidemia resolves with each pregnancy, risk of cardiovascular disease in the future remains. Thus, continuous monitoring of Nigerian women with a history of severe preeclampsia is suggested.
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