Role of Maternal Lipid Profile and Cord Blood Lipid Profile in the GDM Mothers and their Infants

BACKGROUND: Gestational Diabetes mellitus (GDM) is considered as one of the most common complication of pregnancy has major effects in mother and the child. Physiological maternal dyslipidemia normally occurs in pregnancy as an outcome for increased demand of nutrients to the fetus but GDM might be associated with further detrimental effects on the lipoprotein metabolism in the mother leading to dyslipidemia in the newborn. Hence serum lipid profile in childhood might be considered as a predictive factor for serum lipid level later in life. AIM: To study the role of maternal lipid profile and the cord blood lipid profile in the infants with GDM mothers. METHODOLOGY: Maternal blood was used to measure mother’s serum lipid profile. Cord blood sample from maternal side was also used to estimate lipid profile. The newborn birth weight and placental weight were also measured in 50 diagnosed cases of GDM and 50 controls. Statistical analyses was done using SPSS 21 software Results: There was a significant difference (pless than0.001) in the mean birth weight and the mean placental weight in the GDM mothers. All the lipid parameters including serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride and LDL levels except HDL (124.2±24.3, 72.0±28.26, 40.18± 19.65mg/dl respectively) were significantly different in GDM mothers as compared to the non GDM mothers (73.5±22.68, 61.4±7.94, 22.6±4.95 mg/dl). A significant association (pless than0.001) between neonatal weight and placental weight to that of the lipid parameters in the cord blood was also established. Conclusion: GDM causes alteration in lipoprotein metabolism in both mother and child which suggest that metabolic dysfunction and dyslipidemia in mother can have long term affect on the lipid profile of the newborns may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases in the future.