ABSTRACT
Pregnancy induced hypertension is a multi' system disorder of pregnancy and is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. To evaluate changes in serum lipoproteins in primiparous women with pregnancy induced hypertension and compare it with pregnant women having normal blood pressure. This cross sectional study was conducted in 120 pregnancy induced hypertension cases and 21 normotensive pregnant women at gestational age of>20 weeks. History of each woman was recorded on a questionnaire. Height, weight and blood pressure was measured using standard methods, About 5 ml of venous blood was drawn for the analysis of lipoproteins. The data was analyzed using computer software package SPSS version 10. The P Value <0.05 was statistically significant. Mean age of hypertensive cases was 23.7 +/- 0.42 years while that for controls was 23.9 +/- 1.16 years. Significant differences were found in serum high density lipoprotein-cholesterol [P <0. 001], very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol [P <0. 05], triglycerides [P <0. 01], total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein-cholesterol [P <0. 001], serum triglycerides/high density lipoprotein-cholesterol [P <0.0001], high density lipoprotein-cholesterol/very low density Iipoprotein-cholesterol ratio [P <0. 0001] and apolipoprotein Al level [P <0.001] among the groups. However, no significant difference [P>0.05] was noted in total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, apolipoprotein B 100, high density lipoprotein/apolipoprotein Al and low density lipoprotein/apolipoprotein B100 ratio in women with pregnancy induced hypertension and normotensive pregnant women. Women who developed pregnancy induced hypertension had 28.8%, 29.5%, 3 1.1%, 32.9% and 65.3% significantly higher, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides, total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein-cholesterol ratio, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol/high density lipoprotein-cholesterol ratio and triglycerides/high density lipoprotein-cholesterol ratio respectively than the controls. The high density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentrations, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol/very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol ratio and apolipoprotein-A I were 26.9%, 56.6% and 27.9% respectively lower in women with pregnancy induced hypertension than in controls. This study suggests that evaluation of lipoprotein concentrations during antenatal period can be helpful in the early detection and prevention of pregnancy induced hypertension