Maternal cholesterol during pregnancy associated with acute MI severity in offspring
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Maternal cholesterol during pregnancy was an independent risk factor for acute MI severity in young adult offspring, according to study results published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
“Cholesterol is not routinely measured during pregnancy in most countries, so there are few studies on its association with the health of offspring,” Francesco Cacciatore, MD, from the department of translational medicine at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, said in a press release.
The retrospective study included 310 patients admitted to the hospital with available data on maternal cholesterol during pregnancy. Researchers identified 89 patients with acute MI (mean age, 47 years) and typical chest pain, transmural infarction Q-waves and elevated creatinine kinase and 221 patients used as controls who were hospitalized for other reasons.
Patients with acute MI were categorized by disease severity, with 56 patients having severe acute MI, defined as involving three arteries, left ventricular ejection fraction of 35% or less, creatinine kinase peak of more than 1,200 mg/dL or creatinine kinase myocardial band of more than 200 mg/dL.
Maternal cholesterol during pregnancy was associated with acute MI severity measures including:
- number of vessels (beta = 0.382; P = .001);
- ejection fraction (beta = –0.315; P = .003);
- creatinine kinase (beta = 0.26; P = .014);
- creatinine kinase-MB (beta = 0.334; P = .001); and
- survival time (beta = –0.252; P = .031).
In addition, maternal cholesterol during pregnancy independently predicted the severity of acute MI regardless of age, gender, BMI and CHD risk factors in a multivariate analysis (OR = 1.382; 95% CI, 1.046-1.825; P = .023). However, survival time was significantly affected by acute MI severity independently of age, gender, number of risk factors and maternal cholesterol during pregnancy (HR = 2.619; 95% CI, 1.03-6.659; P = .043).
“More research is needed to verify our findings. If confirmed, this association would indicate that high cholesterol in pregnancy should be considered a warning sign and women should be encouraged to exercise and reduce their cholesterol intake,” Cacciatore said in the release. “Prospective studies are needed to better evaluate the magnitude by which maternal cholesterol may influence the development of atherosclerosis in offspring and the combined effect of risk factors throughout the life.”
Reference:
- Maternal cholesterol during pregnancy linked with heart attack severity in adult offspring. www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Maternal-cholesterol-during-pregnancy-linked-with-heart-attack-severity-in-adult-offspring. Published Oct. 19, 2021. Accessed Oct. 26, 2021.
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