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Postpartum Weight Retention is Associated with Elevated Ratio of Oxidized LDL Lipids to HDL-Cholesterol

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Lipids

Abstract

Oxidized LDL lipids (ox-LDL) are associated with lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. The present study investigated how postpartum weight retention effects on ox-LDL and serum lipids. The study is a nested comparative research of a cluster-randomized controlled trial, NELLI (lifestyle and counselling during pregnancy). During early pregnancy (8–12 weeks) and 1 year postpartum, 141 women participated in measurements for determining of plasma lipids: total cholesterol (T-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), triacylglycerols (TAG) and ox-LDL. Subjects were stratified into tertiles (weight loss, unaltered weight and weight gain groups) based on their weight change from baseline to follow-up. Ox-LDL was determined by baseline level of conjugated dienes in LDL lipids. Among the group of weight gainers, concentration of TAG reduced less (−0.14 vs. −0.33, p = 0.002), HDL-C reduced more (−0.31 vs. −0.16, p = 0.003) and ox-LDL/HDL-C ratio increased (3.0 vs. −0.2, p = 0.003) when compared to group of weight loss. Both T-C and LDL-C elevated more (0.14 vs. −0.21, p = 0.008; 0.31 vs. 0.07, p = 0.015) and TAG and ox-LDL reduced less (−0.33 vs. 0.20, p = 0.033; −3.33 vs. −0.68, p = 0.026) in unaltered weight group compared to weight loss group. The women who gained weight developed higher TAG and ox-LDL/HDL-C ratio as compared to those who lost weight. Postpartum weight retention of 3.4 kg or more is associated with atherogenic lipid profile.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

GDM:

Gestational diabetes

HDL-C:

HDL cholesterol

LDL-C:

LDL cholesterol

NELLI:

Name of the study, lifestyle and counselling during pregnancy

OGTT:

Oral glucose tolerance test

ox-LDL:

Oxidized LDL

T-C:

Total cholesterol

TAG:

Triacylglycerols

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by Competitive Research Funding of the Tampere University Hospital, Juho Vainio Foundation, Academy of Finland, Ministry of Education and Culture, and Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. We are thankful to Tiina Solakivi, PhD, associate professor at the Medical School at the University of Tampere, who was responsible for the laboratory testing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Box 30, 33501, Tampere, Finland

    Jatta Puhkala, Riitta Luoto, Jani Raitanen & Tommi Vasankari

  2. The National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    Riitta Luoto & Tommi Vasankari

  3. Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Markku Ahotupa

  4. School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    Jani Raitanen

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  1. Jatta Puhkala
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  2. Riitta Luoto
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Correspondence to Jatta Puhkala.

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Puhkala, J., Luoto, R., Ahotupa, M. et al. Postpartum Weight Retention is Associated with Elevated Ratio of Oxidized LDL Lipids to HDL-Cholesterol. Lipids 48, 1227–1235 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-013-3852-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-013-3852-9

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