Maternal serum dyslipidemia occurs early in pregnancy in women with mild but not severe preeclampsia.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to determine whether serum lipids at midgestation differ between normotensive women and women developing mild and severe preeclampsia.

STUDY DESIGN

A case-control study of 50 women with preeclampsia (mild = 26; severe = 24) and 100 women with uncomplicated term deliveries was conducted. Maternal serum collected at 15-20 weeks was used to measure lipid profiles.

RESULTS

The groups were similar with respect to demographic characteristics. Women with mild preeclampsia had higher triglyceride levels and a higher total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein ratio than control subjects (200 +/- 79.5 mg/dL vs 164 +/- 56.2 mg/dL; P = .02; and 3.31 +/- 1.06 mg/dL vs 2.91 +/- 0.59; P = .02). Women with severe preeclampsia had lower levels of low-density lipoprotein than control subjects (85.5 +/- 21.3 mg/dL vs 102 +/- 30.0 mg/dL; P = .04) and a less atherogenic lipid profile than control subjects.

CONCLUSION

Midgestation dyslipidemia is associated with mild but not severe preeclampsia. These findings may aid in elucidating the different pathologic processes between mild and severe preeclampsia.