Malnutrition Causing Neonatal Dyslipidemia

Abstract

Lipid abnormalities in children have become more common in recent decades. This trend is related to the increase in overweight and obesity. The 2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported that the percentage of risk for overweight and overweight in children aged > 6 years is 31%, higher than the previous surveys. Serum lipids tend to increase quickly up to 6 months of age and reach values very close to adult values by age 2. As suggested by the American Heart Association, serum lipid values for children and adolescents (2-19 years old) are considered abnormal when total cholesterol is >200 mg/dL, high-density lipoprotein is <35 mg/dL, low-density lipoprotein is >130 mg/dL, and triglycerides are >150 mg/dL. Dyslipidemia can be found in patients with malnutrition, a severe condition that needs prompt nutrition intervention. This report describes a case of malnutrition causing severe dyslipidemia in a newborn. Primary dyslipidemia was excluded by the presence of primary malnutrition, normal response to a postheparin lipoprotein lipase activity test, a favorable clinical course after nutrition intervention, and relatives' blood lipid levels close to normal that did not indicate familial dyslipidemia. The child was fed fat-free milk formula supplemented with medium-chain triglycerides and had adequate weight gain with a decrease in blood lipids. Subsequently the formula was changed to regular milk-based formula, and the child maintained adequate growth rate. Although blood lipids never returned to normal values for age and sex, they were lower than before treatment.

HIV and cART-Associated Dyslipidemia Among HIV-Infected Children

“…Extremes of nutritional status and obesity have been reported to be associated with dyslipidemia among children without HIV infection [28,29,30]. In the current study, nutrition state was associated with dyslipidemia among treatment naïve HIV-infected children but was not associated with dyslipidemia among cART experienced children.…”

Disruption of theIgf2gene alters hepatic lipid homeostasis and gene expression in the newborn mouse

“…Nobili and collaborators (25) showed that of 90 Italian children with biopsy-proven NAFLD, almost 40% were classified as small for gestational age compared with 7% of control subjects. Dyslipidemia has also been characterized in newborns and in children with severe undernutrition (12,34). The mechanisms by which malnutrition or growth retardation could lead to steatosis are not understood.…”