Objective: To evaluate plasma lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoprotein changes induced by gestational diabetes.
Study design: In this case-control study, 60 women between 26 and 32 weeks of pregnancy were allocated to four groups according to lipid status and glucose tolerance: (1) normolipemia and no gestational diabetes, (2) normolipemia and gestational diabetes, (3) hyperlipemia and no gestational diabetes, and (4) hyperlipemia and gestational diabetes. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDLc), triglycerides, triglycerides/very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), apolipoproteins (APO) A1 and APO B, APO B-VLDL and APO B/low-density lipoprotein were measured.
Results: There were no statistically significant differences in the normolipemic group of women. Among the hyperlipemic patients, gestational diabetic women showed lower VLDLc when compared to nondiabetic patients.
Conclusion: Our results, comparing groups separated groups by lipid status, show that the only difference in lipid profile associated with glucose intolerance is lower VLDLc in hyperlipemic patients.