Objectives: Primordial prevention of chronic disease is of clinical and public health importance. Considering the fetal onset of atherosclerosis, we aimed to determine the cord blood level of lipoproteins and apolipoproteins as well as their correlation with birth weight and gestational age.
Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised 100 healthy Indian newborns. Ten ml. of cord blood was collected from placental end of umbilical vein. Serum was separated by centrifugation and analyzed on the same day for lipid profile including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein- cholesterol (HDL-C), very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL) and low density lipoproteincholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoproteins A-I and B (ApoA-I, ApoB).
Atherogenic index (AI) was calculated as the ratio of ApoB to ApoA-I.
Results: Cord blood of female newborns had higher TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, Apo A-I, Apo B and AI as compared to male newborns, whereas TG and VLDL-C were higher in male than in female newborns. Significant positive correlation was observed between cord blood Apo A-I and HDL-C (r= 0.45, p<0.01), and between cord blood Apo-B and LDL-C (r= 0.44, p<0.01). Non-significant inverse correlation was observed between Apo A-I and ApoB with gestational age. There was a significant inverse correlation between TG and gestational age (r= –0.197, p <0.05). Positive non-significant correlation was observed between AI and birth weight (r=0.046, p>0.05).
Conclusions: These findings are another confirmatory evidence for the association of prenatal factors with cord blood lipid profile, and can serve as starting point for studying lipid transport system changes during early life.