Maternal serum lipid levels, oxidative stress and antioxidant activity in pre-eclampsia patients from Southwest India

Objective: A study was carried out to evaluate the effects of metabolic syndrome components and oxidative stress factors among preeclamptic women from South West India. Study design: A case-control study was carried out by enrolling fifty pre-eclampsia cases and hundred low-risk pregnant women within the age group of 18-40 years, at 28-34 weeks of pregnancy. The fasting glucose level, fasting insulin level, insulin resistance, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), malondialdehyde, the ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP assay), cardiac output and aortic wall distensibility were measured. Main outcome measures: There was a significant rise in the fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, insulin resistance levels, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, and antioxidant levels in pre-eclamptic women (p < 0.001). The cardiac output and aortic wall distensibility were observed to be low in the cases. Conclusion: We conclude that abnormal lipid metabolism and high lipid peroxide concentrations observed in pre-eclampsia may result in oxidative stress and vascular dysfunction.