Abstract

Dyslipidaemia is a common feature of pregnancy and Helicobacter pylori infection respectively. We hypothesised that pregnant women infected with H. pylori may have increased disorder in lipid metabolism than non-infected pregnant women and thus estimated the plasma lipids in pregnant women with H. pylori infection. Forty (40) pregnant women (GA ≥ 11 weeks) attending ANC of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Federal Medical Centre, Abakaliki, Nigeria and found to be H. pylori positive by a serological test and 40 age- and socioeconomically matched H. pylori seronegative pregnant women who served as controls participated in this study.  Fasting plasma lipids were determined by standard colorimetric methods. H. pylori infected pregnant women had significantly (p < 0.05) higher BMI than their non-infected counterparts. Although the total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol were higher in H. pylori infected than non-infected pregnant women, only LDL-cholesterol was statistically significant (3.38 ± 1.52 vs. 2.34 ± 1.19, p = 0.001). On the other hand, HDL-cholesterol was lower in the H. pylori infected than non-infected pregnant women (0.68 ± 0.23 vs. 0.81 ± 0.49, p > 0.05). H. pylori infected than non-infected pregnant women exhibit greater disordered lipid metabolism that may be predisposing to increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). Further studies using larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

Key words: Helicobacter pylori, dyslipidaemia, pregnant women, coronary heart disease.