Grace MR, et al. - A prospective cohort study was carried out to assess the relationship between lipoprotein particle concentrations in pregnancy and gestational age at delivery. In this sample of pregnant women, particle concentrations of VLDLNMR, LDLNMR, IDLNMR, and HDLNMR were each independently related to gestational age at delivery for all deliveries or spontaneous deliveries <37 weeks. These outcomes may help formulate hypotheses for future studies of the complex connection between maternal lipoproteins and preterm birth.

Methods

• For this research, they performed a prospective cohort study.
• The study was conducted in the United States at the University of North Carolina.
• From 2001-2005, they evaluated 715 women enlisted in the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition study.
• They collected fasting blood at two time points (<20 weeks and 24-29 weeks gestation).
• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantified lipoprotein particle concentrations (low-density lipoprotein [LDL], high-density lipoprotein [HDL], very-low density lipoprotein [VLDL]) and 10 subclasses of lipoproteins.
• Concentrations were evaluated as continuous measures, with the exception of medium HDL which was classified as any or no detectable level, given its distribution.
• Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HR) for gestational age at delivery adjusting for covariates.

Results

• At <20 weeks, three lipoproteins were related to later gestational ages at delivery, (large LDLNMR(HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.64, 0.96) total VLDLNMR (HR 0.77, 95% CI 0.61, 0.98), and small VLDLNMR (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.62, 0.98), while large VLDLNMR (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.01, 1.41) was related to a greater hazard of earlier delivery.
• At 24-28 weeks, average VLDLNMR (HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.03, 1.51) and a detectable level of medium HDLNMR (HR 1.90, 95% CI 1.19, 3.02) were related to earlier gestational ages at delivery.