Acta Paediatr 81: 439-40. 1992
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Lipids and lipoproteins in cord blood: analyses of a Hispanic and Arab population P Valdivielso’, F Martinez-CortCs’, JR Legros2, J Vadillo2, JM Martin-Sanchezz, E Torres2 and MV Martinez-Guerrero3 Lipids Unit’, University Hospital. 29080-Malaga, Spain: Departments of Paediatrics. Obstetrics and Laboratory2, H . del Insalud, Ceuta. Spain; Department of Paediatrics’. H. Materno-Infantil, 29080-Malaga. Spain
The varying rates of ischemic heart disease in different communities are due to a diversity of risk factors, particularly serum lipid levels (1). Our previous study showed that in a group of working men from the city of Ceuta (a Spanish city situated in the north of Africa, with a population of 70000, 25% of Arab origin and 75% of Hispanic origin), there was a lower prevalence of risk factors and cardiovascular disease in the Arab population compared with the Hispanic population (2). This study was designed to investigate the differences in the cord blood serum lipid levels of newborns from both ethnic groups and their relation to maternal lipid levels. Cord blood was collected from 371 consecutive fullterm newborns during 1989 in the Hospital del InsaludCruz Roja (Ceuta). Two hundred and one children (107 males and 94 females) were of Hispanic mothers and 170 (87 males and 83 females) had Arab mothers. Exclusion criteria were: twin birth, prematurity, dystocia, neonatal metabolic problems and children of mixed marriages. The cord blood was a mixture of arterial and venous blood obtained after delivery by milking the portion proximal to the placenta. The maternal blood was a fasting venous sample obtained the morning after delivery. Both maternal and cord blood samples were allowed to clot and serum was separated by low-speed centrifugation. Serum cholesterol and triglycerides were determined by enzymatic methods (Boehringer Mannheim) using an autoanalyzer (Hitachi). HDL cholesterol levels were determined after precipitation (Boehringer Mannheim) and LDL cholesterol levels were calculated (3). The results are listed in Table 1. Thirty percent of the Hispanic mothers but only 1.7% of the Arab mothers smoked regularly. None admitted to regular alcohol consumption. Linear regression analysis showed that the newborn LDL cholesterol levels correlated positively in the Hispanic group with both the mother’s total cholesterol (r = 0.17; p < 0.05) and LDL cholesterol (r = 0.19; p < 0.05), whereas this correlation was not found in the Arab group. Racial differences in newborns have been reported only in one study which differed in design from ours (4). Except for plasma triglyceride levels (which were higher in blacks than in whites), other lipid levels were similar in both racial groups. A more recent study showed that there are already differences between blacks and whites at birth in the levels of apolipoprotein B and the AI/AII
Table I . MeanfSD serum lipid levels (mmol/l) in newborns and mothers.
Hispanics Newborns Weight (g) Length (cm) TC M F LDL-C M F HDL-C M F
TT M F Mothers Age (years) TC LDL-C HDL-C TT
Arabs
3270 f423 49.3k2 1.75 k 0.43 I .69k0.40 1.82f0.45 0.94k0.36 0.92k0.37 0.99 k 0.36 0.61 k0.22 0.59+ 0.18 0.63 k0.24 0.41 k0.19 0.42 f 0.20 0.42 f0. I8
3402+466*** 50.1 *2*** 1.70k0.39 1.67k 0.39 1.73k0.38 0.87+0.29* 0.87k0.30 0.88f0.27** 0.62 k 0.22 0.58k0.16 0.66f0.25 0.43 k 0.2 I 0.47k0.25 0.39kO. I6
25.7k 5.6 6.37k 1.33 3.87k 1.10 1.44 0.5 1 2.30 0.78
26.9k 5.7** 6.04k 1.21*** 3.61 k0.99** 1.40k0.45 2.22k0.78
*
TC =Total cholesterol; LDL-C =low density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C = high density lipoprotein cholesterol; TT = total triglycerides. M =males; F = females. *p=0.047; **p
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Lipids and lipoproteins in cord blood: analyses of a Hispanic and Arab population P Valdivielso’, F Martinez-CortCs’, JR Legros2, J Vadillo2, JM Martin-Sanchezz, E Torres2 and MV Martinez-Guerrero3 Lipids Unit’, University Hospital. 29080-Malaga, Spain: Departments of Paediatrics. Obstetrics and Laboratory2, H . del Insalud, Ceuta. Spain; Department of Paediatrics’. H. Materno-Infantil, 29080-Malaga. Spain
The varying rates of ischemic heart disease in different communities are due to a diversity of risk factors, particularly serum lipid levels (1). Our previous study showed that in a group of working men from the city of Ceuta (a Spanish city situated in the north of Africa, with a population of 70000, 25% of Arab origin and 75% of Hispanic origin), there was a lower prevalence of risk factors and cardiovascular disease in the Arab population compared with the Hispanic population (2). This study was designed to investigate the differences in the cord blood serum lipid levels of newborns from both ethnic groups and their relation to maternal lipid levels. Cord blood was collected from 371 consecutive fullterm newborns during 1989 in the Hospital del InsaludCruz Roja (Ceuta). Two hundred and one children (107 males and 94 females) were of Hispanic mothers and 170 (87 males and 83 females) had Arab mothers. Exclusion criteria were: twin birth, prematurity, dystocia, neonatal metabolic problems and children of mixed marriages. The cord blood was a mixture of arterial and venous blood obtained after delivery by milking the portion proximal to the placenta. The maternal blood was a fasting venous sample obtained the morning after delivery. Both maternal and cord blood samples were allowed to clot and serum was separated by low-speed centrifugation. Serum cholesterol and triglycerides were determined by enzymatic methods (Boehringer Mannheim) using an autoanalyzer (Hitachi). HDL cholesterol levels were determined after precipitation (Boehringer Mannheim) and LDL cholesterol levels were calculated (3). The results are listed in Table 1. Thirty percent of the Hispanic mothers but only 1.7% of the Arab mothers smoked regularly. None admitted to regular alcohol consumption. Linear regression analysis showed that the newborn LDL cholesterol levels correlated positively in the Hispanic group with both the mother’s total cholesterol (r = 0.17; p < 0.05) and LDL cholesterol (r = 0.19; p < 0.05), whereas this correlation was not found in the Arab group. Racial differences in newborns have been reported only in one study which differed in design from ours (4). Except for plasma triglyceride levels (which were higher in blacks than in whites), other lipid levels were similar in both racial groups. A more recent study showed that there are already differences between blacks and whites at birth in the levels of apolipoprotein B and the AI/AII
Table I . MeanfSD serum lipid levels (mmol/l) in newborns and mothers.
Hispanics Newborns Weight (g) Length (cm) TC M F LDL-C M F HDL-C M F
TT M F Mothers Age (years) TC LDL-C HDL-C TT
Arabs
3270 f423 49.3k2 1.75 k 0.43 I .69k0.40 1.82f0.45 0.94k0.36 0.92k0.37 0.99 k 0.36 0.61 k0.22 0.59+ 0.18 0.63 k0.24 0.41 k0.19 0.42 f 0.20 0.42 f0. I8
3402+466*** 50.1 *2*** 1.70k0.39 1.67k 0.39 1.73k0.38 0.87+0.29* 0.87k0.30 0.88f0.27** 0.62 k 0.22 0.58k0.16 0.66f0.25 0.43 k 0.2 I 0.47k0.25 0.39kO. I6
25.7k 5.6 6.37k 1.33 3.87k 1.10 1.44 0.5 1 2.30 0.78
26.9k 5.7** 6.04k 1.21*** 3.61 k0.99** 1.40k0.45 2.22k0.78
*
TC =Total cholesterol; LDL-C =low density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C = high density lipoprotein cholesterol; TT = total triglycerides. M =males; F = females. *p=0.047; **p
