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Serum cholesterol acceptor capacity in intrauterine growth restricted fetuses

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Published/Copyright: February 14, 2017

Abstract

Aim:

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases later in life. The mechanisms whereby slowed intrauterine growth confers vascular risk are not clearly established. In general, a disturbed cholesterol efflux has been linked to atherosclerosis. The capacity of serum to accept cholesterol has been repeatedly evaluated in clinical studies by the use of macrophage-based cholesterol efflux assays and, if disturbed, precedes atherosclerotic diseases years before the clinical diagnosis. We now hypothesized that circulating cholesterol acceptors in IUGR sera specifically interfere with cholesterol transport mechanisms leading to diminished cholesterol efflux.

Methods:

RAW264.7 cells were used to determine efflux of [3H]-cholesterol in response to [umbilical cord serum (IUGR), n=20; controls (CTRL), n=20].

Results:

Cholesterol efflux was lower in IUGR as compared to controls [controls: mean 7.7% fractional [3H]-cholesterol efflux, standard deviation (SD)=0.98; IUGR: mean 6.3%, SD=0.79; P<0.0001]. Values strongly correlated to HDL (ρ=0.655, P<0.0001) and apoE (ρ=0.510, P=0.0008), and mildly to apoA1 (ρ=0.3926, P=0.0122) concentrations.

Conclusions:

Reduced cholesterol efflux in IUGR could account for the enhanced risk of developing cardiovascular diseases later in life.

Acknowledgments

As a part of the “Rotation Program” for medical scientists, the Medical Fakulty of the RWTH Aachen and the University Hospital Bern have funded the project. The authors thank Brigitte Dix-Kuessner for her English language corrections.

Author’s statement

  1. Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  2. Material and methods: Informed consent: Informed consent has been obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  3. Ethical approval: The research related to human subject use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, and institutional policies, and is in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration, and has been approved by the authors’ institutional review board or equivalent committee.

  4. Author contributions: Ulrich Pecks: initial scientific idea and concept of the work, patient acquisition, interpretation of data, and drafting of the manuscript. Werner Rath: concept of the work and study design, interpretation of data, and revision of the manuscript. Dirk O. Bauerschlag: patient acquisition, interpretation of data, and revision of the manuscript. Nicolai Maass: interpretation of data and revision of the manuscript. Thorsten Orlikowsky: interpretation of data and revision of the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. Markus Mohaupt: concept of the work and study design, interpretation of data, and revision of the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. Geneviève Escher: concept of the work, CE Assay analysis, and interpretation of data, and drafting of the manuscript.

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Received: 2016-8-12
Accepted: 2017-1-10
Published Online: 2017-2-14
Published in Print: 2017-10-26

©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction: placental disorders still not fully understood
  4. Review article
  5. Hepar uterinum: a history of ideas on fetal nutrition
  6. Original articles
  7. Twin pregnancy in women above the age of 45 years: maternal and neonatal outcomes
  8. Maternal endothelial damage as a disorder shared by early preeclampsia, late preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction
  9. Maternal venous SHARP1 levels in preeclampsia
  10. Second-trimester maternal serum markers in the prediction of preeclampsia
  11. Pregnancy outcomes regarding maternal serum AFP value in second trimester screening
  12. Quantification of mechanical dyssynchrony in growth restricted fetuses and normal controls using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)
  13. Serum cholesterol acceptor capacity in intrauterine growth restricted fetuses
  14. Antithrombin improves the maternal and neonatal outcomes but not the angiogenic factors in extremely growth-restricted fetuses at <28 weeks of gestation
  15. Simple approach based on maternal characteristics and mean arterial pressure for the prediction of preeclampsia in the first trimester of pregnancy
  16. Fetal death: an extreme manifestation of maternal anti-fetal rejection
  17. Intrauterine growth restriction and placental gene expression in severe preeclampsia, comparing early-onset and late-onset forms
  18. The relationship between maternal and umbilical cord adropin levels with the presence and severity of preeclampsia
  19. Expression of placental regulatory genes is associated with fetal growth
  20. Circulating soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 and placental growth factor from 10 to 40 weeks’ pregnancy in normotensive women
  21. A one year review of eclampsia in an Ethiopian Tertiary Care Center (Saint Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, SPHMMC)
  22. Congress Calendar
  23. Congress Calendar
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