This cross-sectional study identifies differences in lipid profiles among neonates, implying higher risks for cardiovascular diseases in low birth weight infants.
Background and Objectives: Low birth weight (LBW) is correlated with increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hyperlipidemia is a well-known cause of CVDs. This study examined the umbilical cord blood lipid profile in neonates with different birth weights. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital from Eastern India. Cord blood lipid profile (cholesterol [CH], triglyceride [TG], high density lipoprotein [HDL], low density lipoprotein [LDL], and very LDL [VLDL]) was measured compared between different categories. Results: A total of 64 neonates were included in the study. LBW plus small for gestational age (SGA) neonates had significantly higher cord blood level of LDL, TG, cholesterol, and VLDL compared with normal birth weight (NBW), and LBW plus appropriate for gestational age (AGA) neonates. However, the umbilical cord blood HDL level was significantly higher in NBW compared to LBW neonates group. Conclusion: LBW neonates exhibited higher cord blood lipid levels at birth. SGA poses as an additional risk factor and may be linked to future risk of CVDs in these groups of neonates. Further studies can delineate this association.
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Shukla et al. (2025) studied this question.
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