Changes in Serum Fatty Acids Levels during Pregnancy and After Delivery in a Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Introduction: During pregnancy, several maternal metabolic adaptations occur. One of these adaptations is the significant changes in lipid metabolism which contribute to the nutrient balance of the fetal-placental unit, essential for fetal development and lactation.Methods: In this study, serum concentration of different fatty acids in healthy pregnant women and three months postpartum were determined by capillary gas chromatography and compared to healthy non-pregnant women and men. Differences between groups were assessed with one-way analyses of variance and the post hoc Tukey-HSD test for multiple comparisons. The Mann-Whitney U test was used when a variable was not normally distributed. All statistical analyses were conducted using R statistical Software (version 3.3.1).Results: The results showed that serum levels of these maternal fatty acids increased significantly from the middle until the end of pregnancy compared to non-pregnant women and decreased at postpartum. Saturated fatty acids were observed to contribute to the highest percentage of total serum fatty acids during gestation, followed by polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Additionally, serum levels of total, saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and TRAN’s fatty acids were significantly elevated in healthy non-pregnant women when compared with men.Conclusion: There are significant differences in the lipid profiles among pregnant and non-pregnant women and men, with a decrease in the serum profile of all fatty acids in the postpartum period.

Maternal Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Levels Decrease during Early Pregnancy in Normotensive Pregnant Women but Are Higher in Preeclamptic Women—A Longitudinal Study

“…We had previously determined the serum levels of NEFA by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in a longitudinal cohort study of healthy pregnant women and three months postpartum and in non-pregnant women [ 39 ]. The results demonstrated that total levels of NEFA increased significantly during the mid-to-later pregnancy and similar results were reported by Herrera et al [ 29 ].…”

“…The results demonstrated that total levels of NEFA increased significantly during the mid-to-later pregnancy and similar results were reported by Herrera et al [ 29 ]. It is important to highlight that the pregnant women were randomly selected from the same original cohort of a NEFA study [ 39 ]. Additionally, previous studies have shown that circulating NEFA were significantly higher in women with preeclampsia than in normotensive pregnancies [ 37 , 40 ].…”

“…Additionally, previous studies have demonstrated that high levels of NEFA are involved in triggering hepatic FGF-21 production, and conditions with high insulin resistance, such as obesity, are associated with FGF-21-resistant states, and thus showing increased circulating levels of endogenous FGF-21 [ 10 , 48 ]. NEFA changes during pregnancy reached the highest levels in the third trimester and were positively associated with maternal insulin resistance [ 39 , 49 , 50 , 51 ]. Another effect of high free fatty acid (FFA) levels is to increase levels of ROS in endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells.…”