Submitted on June 3, 2005
Revised on July 28, 2005
Accepted on August 3, 2005
Lipoprotein metabolism of pregnant women is associated with both their genetic polymorphisms and those of their newborn child
Olivier S. Descamps, Monique Bruniaux, Pierre-Francois Guilmot, Rene Tonglet, and Francis R. Heller
Internal Medicine, Hopital de Jolimont, Haine Saint-Paul 7100
Corresponding Author: descaoli{at}skynet.be
It is unclear to what extent the placenta, which expresses lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and apolipoprotein E (APOE), contributes to the lipoprotein metabolism of pregnant women. To explore this question, we took advantage of the fact that placental proteins are encoded from the fetal genome and examined the associations between lipids of 525 pregnant women and the presence, in their newborns, of genetic polymorphisms of genes involved in lipoprotein metabolism. The results demonstrated that maternal lipids were associated with the polymorphisms of newborns, independently of polymorphisms carried by the mothers. After adjustment for maternal polymorphisms, newborn LPL*S447X was associated with lower triglycerides(-21+/-9mg/dl;p=0.02), lower LDL-C(-12+/-5mg/dl;p=0.02), lower apoB(-14+/-4mg/dl;p<0.001), higher HDL-C(+5+/-2mg/dl;p=0.008) and higher apoA1(+9+/-4mg/dl;p=0.02) in their mothers; newborn LPL*N291S was associated with higher maternal triglycerides(+114+/-31mg/dl;p<0.001); newborn APOE*E2 was associated with higher maternal LDL-C(+14+/-6mg/dl;p=0.02) and higher maternal apoB(+14+/-5mg/dl;p<0.001) (compared to E3E3). These associations had same amplitudes and contributions to the variances than associations between maternal polymorphisms and lipids. These associations were also independent of newborn lipid concentrations. In conclusion, these associations between maternal lipoproteins and fetal polymorphisms supports the idea of an active role of placental LPL and APOE in maternal lipoproteins metabolism. It generates new hypothesis on the contributions of fetal genes in the various risks associated with dyslipidemia during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia, pancreatitis) or in the future risk of cardiovascular disease in women.