Low maternal cholesterol may boost blood flow in foetus

Lowering maternal cholesterol levels during pregnancy may improve the blood flow in the foetus and produce noticeable benefits later, says a new study from Norway.

The research, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, randomly assigned 290 pregnant women with no history of pregnancy complications to follow their usual diet or a low-cholesterol low-saturated fat diet, and found benefits in the pressure of blood in the umbilical cord.

"By achieving decreased resistance in the umbilical artery at mid gestation, the intervention diet could have been associated with a less "stressed" foetus, which in turn might have delayed the onset of labour," wrote lead author Janette Khoury from Oslo's Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Center.

The women - all white and non-smoking (age range 21-38) - were randomly assigned to the dietary interventions from gestational week 17-20 to birth. The low-cholesterol low-saturated fat diet was rich in fish, low-fat meats, oils, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

Foetal blood flow, measured using Doppler velocimetry of the umbilical artery at gestational weeks 24, 30, and 36, was found a decrease in the intervention group, compared to the control group.

No changes were observed in the uterine arteries however.

"Our main finding is that a low-cholesterol low-saturated fat diet accentuated the physiologic reduction in umbilical artery pulsatility index (PI) from gestation weeks 24-30 in the intervention arm of this randomized cohort of low-risk white pregnant women," wrote the researchers.

However, in an accompanying editorial, Anthony Odibo from Washington University School of Medicine questioned whether the changes observed really as a result of the cholesterol-lowering diet.

"The study by Khoury et al raises important issues for future studies," he wrote. "The generalizability of the study findings to other populations is… questionable because a "normal" Norwegian diet that was used by the control group may not be comparable to an average diet in the United States.

"The dietary interventions were started from 17-20 weeks of gestation, and we all know that the secondary wave of trophoblastic invasion may have been completed by then, therefore preventing any potential benefit of the diet.

"It would also have been interesting to evaluate the placentas from the study population," he concluded.

High cholesterol has been linked to many illnesses, in particular cardiovascular disease (CVD) which causes almost 50 per cent of deaths in Europe and is estimated to cost the EU around €169 billion each year.

source:www.nutraingredients.com