[Lipid Panel in Pregnancy
Ikpe Vitalis, Alex Idoko & Obasi Chinenye
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences
Caritas University, Amorji-Nike Enugu
Email: vitalis.ikpe@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Pregnant women develop physiological alterations that can be evaluated in the laboratory. This study investigated changes in lipid parameters during the three trimesters of pregnancy. Sixty pregnant women (aged 20-35years) and 60 non-pregnant women of the same age range (controls) were assessed. Blood samples were collected from both groups and assayed for total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglycerides (TG). Changes in maternal lipid panel during pregnancy differ with trimester. In the first trimester, there were increases in the concentrations of TC (11%), LDL (44.6%) and TG (14.3%) while HDL decreased by 45.5%. During the second trimester, all the lipid parameters decreased in concentration, TC by 22%, TG by 8.3%, HDL by 45% expect LDL that increased marginally by 7.3%. In the third trimester, LDL increased more in concentration (46.9%), TC returned to baseline while
HDL and TG decreased more than in the second trimester by 60% and 14.6% respectively. These results are statistically significant (P<0.05). It is therefore imperative to include a lipid panel as part of periodic antenatal
care. Key Words: Lipids, measurements, trimesters, pregnancy, significance.
