Cord blood hypertriglyceridemia in Chinese newborns: an index of fetal distress.

Cord serum triglyceride concentrations in 214 Chinese newborns were measured at birth with the Hitachi Model 716 autoanalyzer using the G-3-PDH UV end point method. The mean and the 95th percentile value in a normal population of 100 newborns were found to be 28 mg/100 ml and 48 mg/100 ml, respectively. Using 48 mg/100 (P95) as a cut-off point, maternal-fetal factors were evaluated in 35 hypertriglyceridemic and 35 normotriglyceridemic newborns. A significant association was demonstrated between high cord serum triglyceride levels and toxemia, overterm, meconium-stained amniotic fluid, deceleration of fetal heart rate, intrauterine growth retardation, low one-minute Apgar score (less than or equal to 7), and low umbilical arterial pH (less than 7.20). These findings pointed out that cord serum hypertriglyceridemia was an index of fetal distress and associated with many unfavorable intrauterine conditions. They also suggested that hypertriglyceridemia might be related to the activated sympathetic nervous system and the enhanced release of catecholamines.