[The concentration of lipid parameters in newborns and in older children].

AIM

The study aimed to compare the concentrations of triglycerides, total cholesterol and its fractions and apolipoproteins in cord blood serum in newborns and in blood serum in older children. The influence of gender, intrauterine development, nutritional status and diet on lipid parameters was also assessed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The longitudinal study was performed in three stages. During stage I the tests were carried out in 137 newborns after birth. Stage II of the study included 41 children aged 18-30 months, and stage III covered 47 children aged 5-6 years. Due to the long-term and multi-stage study, in the evaluation of the results, only 41 children were included; they were only the ones who participated in all three stages, and the test results of whom were complete. In newborns, the gestational age and the birth weight were evaluated. In the older children, the nutritional status was rated by measuring the Body Mass Index and the skin folds thickness as well as the nutrition from birth was assessed. In all of the studied children the concentration of triglycerides, total cholesterol and its fractions: HDL, LDL and VLDL cholesterol and apolipoproteins (AI and B) were measured.

RESULTS

The concentrations of lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins in serum increase during the first years of children's life as compared with the values of cord blood serum (p<0.001). Differences in the concentration of lipids and lipoproteins in cord blood serum in the newborns were noticed with relation to gender and birth weight. No fundamental statistical differences were shown between the studied parameters in older children with relation to the gender, nutritional status and the method of feeding after the birth.

CONCLUSION

Based on the long-term studies in this group of children, one may conclude that the gender and birth weight have the largest effect on the lipid parameters in the cord blood. However, the gender, the nutritional status and the method of feeding after birth were not related with lipid metabolism. It seems advisable to continue further studies in the same group of children in order to assess the impact of environmental factors on selected parameters of lipid metabolism.