J Clin Pathol Qual Control.  2000 Jun;22(1):225-230.

Change in Blood Lipid Levels During Normal Pregnancy and Correlation with Alkaline Phosphatase Concentrations

• Choi JW
• Pai SH

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To investigate the relationship between the change in blood lipid levels and alkaline phosphatase concentrations during pregnancy, we measured blood lipid profiles and alkaline phosphatase concentrations in 546 apparently healthy pregnant, postpartum and nonpregnant subjects.
METHODS
Maternal blood (6 ml) was drawn into vacuum tube after 12 hours of fasting. Triglyceride, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and alkaline phosphatase were measured with Hitachi 747 automatic chemical analyzer (Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) within 4 hours after collection.
RESULTS
The triglyceride and total cholesterol levels increased gradually as pregnancy proceeded, reaching maximal values in the third trimester, returned to nonpregnancy level at 20 weeks after delivery. In the late third trimester, each concentration of alkaline phosphatase and triglyceride was higher than that of the first trimester by 2.1-fold and 2.3-fold, respectively. At 12 weeks after delivery, alkaline phosphatase was 45.2% lower and triglyceride was 47.1% lower than their maximum values, respectively. The concentration of alkaline phosphatase correlated significantly with the total cholesterol level (r=0.68, p<0.01) and with the triglyceride concentration (r=0.71, p<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS
Blood triglyceride and total cholesterol levels change in accordance with alkaline phosphatase concentrations during normal pregnancy. Measurement of maternal blood lipid levels is likely to be deferred until 20 weeks after delivery to avoid the influences of pregnancy.

MeSH Terms

Alkaline Phosphatase*
Cholesterol
Fasting
Female
Humans
Postpartum Period
Pregnancy Trimester, First
Pregnancy Trimester, Third
Pregnancy*
Triglycerides
Vacuum
Alkaline Phosphatase
Cholesterol