Lipids and Adipokines in Cord Blood and at 72 h in Discordant Dichorionic Twins

ABSTRACT

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a risk factor for developing metabolic syndrome later in life. We explored whether adipokine concentrations in cord blood (CB) and on day 3 (D3) were related to impaired fetal growth and lipids in IUGR twins. Patients and methods: Thirty-six discordant (birth weight [BW] discordance ≥20% calculated in relation to the heavier co-twins) and 42 concordant (BW discordance ≤ 10%) twin pairs were included. Results: In IUGR twins, both adiponectin/BW and triglyceride (TG) levels were significantly higher, while total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were lower in CB. On D3, both leptin and HDL-C levels were significantly lower and TG levels were significantly higher in IUGR twins. In the discordant group, the alterations in lipids were not related to any adipokine. Conclusions: IUGR is related to lower leptin level and proatherogenic lipid profile (higher TG and lower HDL-C), which are not influenced by adipokine at birth.

KEYWORDS:

• Cord blood
• leptin
• adiponectin
• lipids
• IUGR
• fetal programming

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.