Skip to main content
PLOS One logoLink to PLOS One
. 2018 Dec 21;13(12):e0209579. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209579

Maternal dyslipidemia and risk for preterm birth

Caitlin J Smith 1, Rebecca J Baer 2,3, Scott P Oltman 3,4, Patrick J Breheny 5, Wei Bao 1, Jennifer G Robinson 1, John M Dagle 6, Liang Liang 7, Sky K Feuer 8, Christina D Chambers 2, Laura L Jelliffe-Pawlowski 3,4, Kelli K Ryckman 1,6,*
Editor: Zhong-Cheng Luo9
PMCID: PMC6303099  PMID: 30576377

Abstract

Maternal lipid profiles during pregnancy are associated with risk for preterm birth. This study investigates the association between maternal dyslipidemia and subsequent preterm birth among pregnant women in the state of California. Births were identified from California birth certificate and hospital discharge records from 2007–2012 (N = 2,865,987). Preterm birth was defined as <37 weeks completed gestation and dyslipidemia was defined by diagnostic codes. Subtypes of preterm birth were classified as preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), spontaneous labor, and medically indicated, according to birth certificate data and diagnostic codes. The association between dyslipidemia and preterm birth was tested with logistic regression. Models were adjusted for maternal age at delivery, race/ethnicity, hypertension, pre-pregnancy body mass index, insurance type, and education. Maternal dyslipidemia was significantly associated with increased odds of preterm birth (adjusted OR: 1.49, 95%CI: 1.39, 1.59). This finding was consistent across all subtypes of preterm birth, including PPROM (adjusted OR: 1.54, 95%CI: 1.34, 1.76), spontaneous (adjusted OR: 1.51, 95%CI: 1.39, 1.65), and medically indicated (adjusted OR: 1.454, 95%CI: 1.282, 1.649). This study suggests that maternal dyslipidemia is associated with increased risk for all types of preterm birth.

Introduction

Preterm birth is defined as delivery prior to 37 weeks of completed gestation. The World Health Organization estimates that preterm birth affects 11% of pregnancies worldwide, representing nearly 15 million births in 2010 [1]. It is the second leading cause of death in children under age 5 [1]. Despite decades of research into the causes of preterm birth, the biological causes of preterm birth remain largely unknown [2].

Normal pregnancy is accompanied by metabolic changes, particularly in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The benefit of these changes is presumably to increase circulating glucose and triglycerides to nourish the growing fetus. Changes in carbohydrate metabolism are bimodal, in which fasting plasma glucose is decreased in early pregnancy, and impaired glucose tolerance occurs in late pregnancy [3]. Circulating lipids, including high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), total cholesterol, and triglycerides, increase throughout pregnancy, with the greatest increase observed for triglycerides [3]. Although much research has been devoted to glucose metabolism during pregnancy due to the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus [4], increasing interest in lipid levels during pregnancy has revealed associations between maternal lipid levels and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth.

Many studies have investigated associations between maternal lipid levels during pregnancy and risk for preterm birth, although the lipid components and magnitude of associations have been inconsistent across studies [517]. One previous study investigated the association between dyslipidemia, as defined by lipid levels in prenatal screening, and found increased risks for preterm birth with mid-trimester hyperlipidemia in combination with elevated levels of tumor necrosis alpha [8]. The present study investigates the association between a clinical diagnosis of maternal dyslipidemia and subsequent preterm birth among pregnant women in the state of California.

Materials and methods

Study population

Births were identified from California birth certificate and hospital discharge records from 2007–2012 (N = 2,962,434) as collected by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. Records were linked approximately 9–12 months prior to delivery through 9–12 months post-delivery [18]. Inclusion criteria included singleton pregnancy, availability of linked records, gestational age between 20–44 weeks and absence of severe hypertensive diseases including hypertensive heart disease, hypertensive chronic kidney disease and secondary hypertension. We excluded these women, as those forms of hypertension are not the primary focus of our study and could confound the association with preterm birth. Dyslipidemia was defined by the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-9) codes 272.0–272.4. Specifically, these codes include pure hypercholesterolemia (ICD-9 272.0), pure hyperglyceridemia (ICD-9 272.1), mixed hyperlipidemia (ICD-9 272.2), hyperchylomicronemia (ICD-9 272.3), and other unspecified hyperlipidemia (ICD-9 272.4). We restricted our dyslipidemia definitions to only those that occurred on a hospital admission at or prior to the delivery date. Methods and protocols were approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects within the Health and Human Services Agency of the State of California. All data was de-identified and determined not to qualify as human subjects research by the University of Iowa Institutional Review Board.

Core outcomes and statistical analysis

Preterm birth was defined as gestational age at delivery <37 weeks and term birth was defined as gestational age at delivery ≥37 weeks, according to best obstetric estimate. Births were further categorized into early preterm birth (<32 weeks), late preterm birth (32–36 67 weeks) and term birth (≥37 weeks). Subtypes of preterm birth were classified as preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), spontaneous, and medically indicated, according to birth certificate data or hospital discharge records as previously described [19]. Specifically, preterm births with indication of premature rupture of membranes were classified as PPROM and births with indication of preterm labor or tocolytic medication AND absence of PPROM were classified as spontaneous. Births with absence of premature rupture of membranes, premature labor and tocolytic medication AND a code for ‘medical induction’ or ‘artificial rupture of membranes’ or cesarean delivery without such codes were classified as medically indicated.

All analyses were performed using Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina). The associations between dyslipidemia and preterm birth were tested using logistic regression (PROC LOGISTIC). Dyslipidemia was modeled as a composite variable and as individual diagnostic codes. The associations were tested without adjustment and with adjustment for maternal age at delivery, hypertension (which included pre-existing essential hypertension, gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia or eclampsia), race/ethnicity, BMI, insurance type, and education. Maternal age at delivery was analyzed as a linear variable. Hypertension was coded as a binary variable and the absence of hypertension was used as the referent group. Race/ethnicity was categorized as Black, Asian, Caucasian or Hispanic, and Caucasian was used as the referent group. BMI was categorized according to standard cut-points (underweight [<18.5], normal [18.5–24.9], overweight [25–29.9], or obese [≥30]), and ‘normal’ was used as the referent group [20]. Insurance type was categorized as Medi-Cal, private, self-pay, or other, and ‘private’ was used as the referent group. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program, which provides health insurance and health care services for low-income individuals. Education was categorized as <12 years, exactly 12 years (completion of high school diploma), or >12 years, which was used as the referent group.

We considered maternal age at delivery as a potential confounder, wherein we hypothesized that advanced maternal age would be associated with increased likelihood of diagnosis of dyslipidemia and an increased likelihood of delivering preterm [2124]. We also considered BMI as a potential confounder, in which overweight and obesity would be associated with increased likelihood of diagnosis of dyslipidemia and increased likelihood of delivering preterm [2326]. Other potential confounders including race/ethnicity, maternal age at delivery, hypertension (includes both pre-pregnancy and pregnancy diagnoses), pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), insurance type, and education [2126]. These variables were available from birth certificate records. Hypertension diagnoses were also confirmed by hospital discharge records.

Several supplemental analyses were performed. These included: 1) stratification of analyses by BMI category to determine if BMI modifies the relationship between dyslipidemia and preterm birth; 2) consolidation of ICD-9 codes into cholesterol dyslipidemia and triglyceride dyslipidemia to determine if the type of dyslipidemia (cholesterol versus triglyceride) affects the results; and 3) examination of the individual impact of confounders, including race/ethnicity, hypertension, BMI, insurance type, maternal education and maternal age, on the association between dyslipidemia and preterm birth. All statistical analyses were performed with statistical power >99.9% to detect an odds ratio of 1.5.

Results

Demographic characteristics of the study population are presented in Table 1. The analysis included 9,162 women with dyslipidemia and 2,953,272 women without dyslipidemia. Women with dyslipidemia differed from women without dyslipidemia by race/ethnicity, BMI, hypertension (pre-existing or onset during pregnancy), insurance status, education, and maternal age at delivery (all at p<0.0001). Specifically, the group of women who had dyslipidemia included more Black women, were less likely to have a normal BMI, were more likely to have hypertension, were less likely to be on Medi-Cal insurance, were more likely to have completed more than 12 years of education, and were slightly older than the group of women without dyslipidemia.

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of study population.

  Dyslipidemia (N = 9,162) No Dyslipidemia (N = 2,953,272)
Maternal Age at Delivery* 32.4 ± 5.97 28.3 ± 6.29
Race    
Black 646 (7.8%) 157,917 (5.8%)
Asian 1,305 (15.7%) 365,274 (13.4%)
Caucasian 2,293 (27.5%) 770,805 (28.2%)
Hispanic 4,086 (49.0%) 1,963,803 (52.7%)
Missing (N = 218,664)    
BMI    
Underweight 190 (2.2%) 144,146 (5.2%)
Normal 2,278 (26.7%) 1,349,503 (49.0%)
Overweight 2,308 (27.1%) 701,674 (25.5%)
Obese 3,754 (44.0%) 558,825 (20.3%)
Missing (N = 199,124)    
Insurance    
MediCal 2,473 (27.0%) 1,427,199 (48.4%)
Private 6413 (70.1%) 1,366,516 (46.4%)
Self-Pay 58 (0.6%) 59,778 (2.0%)
Other 210 (2.3%) 95,014 (3.2%)
Missing (N = 4,765)    
Education    
<12 years 1,350 (15.3%) 707,119 (24.9%)
12 completed years 2,208 (25.0%) 755,196 (26.6%)
>12 years 5,292 (59.8%) 1,381,901 (48.6%)
Missing (N = 109,056)    
Hypertension
Yes 2,447 (26.7%) 209,004 (7.1%)
Preterm    
Yes 1,369 (14.9%) 209,717 (7.1%)

*Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. All other data are presented as N (%).

Results of the traditional logistic regression analyses are presented in Table 2. Three different outcomes are presented: preterm versus term, early and late preterm versus term, and PPROM, spontaneous, and medically indicated versus term. Dyslipidemia was significantly associated with preterm birth, both before and after adjusting for race/ethnicity, maternal age at delivery, hypertension, BMI, insurance type, and education.

Table 2. Association between dyslipidemia and preterm birth.

Total population (N = 2,962,434)
Unadjusted OR (95% CI) Adjusted*
OR (95% CI)
Outcome 1a 2.30 (2.17, 2.44) 1.49 (1.39, 1.59)
Outcome 2b
<32 weeks vs. Term 2.97 (2.61, 3.37) 1.63 (1.41, 1.89)
32–36 weeks vs. Term 2.19 (2.06, 2.33) 1.46 (1.36, 1.57)
Outcome 3
PPROM vs. term 1.92 (1.69, 2.17) 1.54 (1.34, 1.76)
Spon. vs. term 2.43 (2.26, 2.62) 1.51 (1.39, 1.65)
Indicated vs. term 2.85 (2.55, 3.17) 1.45 (1.28, 1.65)

*Adjusted for race, maternal age at delivery, hypertension, body mass index, insurance type, and education

aPreterm birth (<37 weeks) vs. term birth (≥37 weeks)

bEarly and late preterm birth

Results of the traditional logistic regression analyses, stratified by type of dyslipidemia, are presented in Table 3. Hyperchylomicronemia (ICD-9 272.3) was not analyzed due to low sample size (N<10). Each type of dyslipidemia was significantly associated with preterm birth, both before and after adjusting for race/ethnicity, maternal age at delivery, hypertension, BMI, insurance type, and education.

Table 3. Association between types of dyslipidemia and preterm birth.

Pure hypercholesterolemia (N = 2,599) Pure hyperglyceridemia (N = 6,81) Mixed hyperlipidemia (N = 379) Other unspecified hyperlipidemia (N = 6,088) Maternal lipid disorder before delivery (N = 6,816)
UnaOR
(95% CI)
AOR*
(95% CI)
UnaOR
(95% CI)
AOR*
(95% CI)
UnaOR (95% CI) AOR*
(95% CI)
UnaOR (95% CI) AOR*
(95% CI)
UnaOR (95% CI) AOR*
(95% CI)
Outcome 1a 2.16
(1.93, 2.41)
1.30
(1.14, 1.47)
2.54
(2.07, 3.12)
1.64
(1.29, 2.09)
2.41
(1.82, 3.18)
1.77
(1.29, 2.43)
2.39
(2.23, 2.57)
1.53
(1.41, 1.66)
2.32
(2.17, 2.48)
1.63
(1.50, 1.76)
Outcome 2b
<32 weeks vs. Term 2.92
(2.30, 3.70)
1.40
(1.07, 1.83)
3.43
(2.22, 5.31)
2.07
(1.26, 3.39)
2.94
(1.57, 5.50)
2.03
(1.03, 3.99)
3.07
(2.63, 3.58)
1.67
(1.40, 2.00)
2.89
(2.49, 3.36)
1.79
(1.51, 2.13)
32–36 weeks vs. Term 2.04
(1.81, 2.30)
1.28
(1.11, 1.46)
2.39
(1.92, 2.99)
1.56
(1.20, 2.03)
2.32
(1.72, 3.14)
1.72
(1.22, 2.42)
2.28
(2.12, 2.46)
1.50
(1.38, 1.64)
2.23
(2.07, 2.39)
1.59
(1.47, 1.73)
Outcome 3
PPROM vs. term 1.64
(1.28, 2.11)
1.41
(1.08, 1.83)
2.05
(1.31, 3.21)
1.86
(1.16, 2.99)
1.81
(0.97, 3.40)
1.43
(0.71, 2.88)
2.06
(1.77, 2.39)
1.57
(1.33, 1.86)
1.99
(1.73, 2.29)
1.61
(1.38, 1.89)
Spon. vs. term 2.43
(2.11, 2.79)
1.38
(1.17, 1.61)
3.23
(2.53, 4.13)
1.76
(1.30, 2.40)
2.59
(1.81, 3.71)
1.99
(1.33, 2.97)
2.42
(2.21, 2.65)
1.50
(1.34, 1.67)
2.45
(2.25, 2.68)
1.70
(1.54, 1.88)
Indicated vs. term 2.46
(1.98, 3.05)
1.13
(0.89, 1.44)
2.50
(1.63, 3.83)
1.56
(0.99, 2.46)
3.05
(1.82, 5.10)
1.62
(0.88, 2.98)
3.23
(2.85, 3.66)
1.65
(1.43, 1.91)
2.84
(2.50, 3.22)
1.53
(1.32, 1.77)

*AOR: Adjusted odds ratio including race, maternal age at delivery, hypertension, body mass index, insurance type, and education

aPreterm birth (<37 weeks) vs. term birth (≥37 weeks)

bEarly and late preterm birth

Results of the traditional logistic regression analyses, stratified by BMI category, are presented in S1 Table. Within each BMI category, dyslipidemia was significantly associated with preterm birth. After adjusting for maternal age at delivery, hypertension, race/ethnicity, insurance type, and education, dyslipidemia was significantly associated with preterm birth among normal weight, overweight, and obese women, but not among underweight women. Obesity itself was associated with a 1.6-fold increase in risk for medically indicated preterm birth compared to normal BMI (OR: 1.61; 95%CI: 1.57, 1.65).

Results of the consolidation of ICD-9 codes into cholesterol dyslipidemia and triglyceride dyslipidemia are presented in S2 Table. Cholesterol dyslipidemia, which included pure hypercholesterolemia and mixed dyslipidemia, was significantly associated with preterm birth before and after adjustment. Triglyceride dyslipidemia, which included pure hyperglyceridemia and hyperchylomicronemia, was significantly associated with preterm birth before and after adjustment.

To investigate the individual impact of confounders, including race/ethnicity, hypertension, BMI, insurance type, maternal education and maternal age, on the association between dyslipidemia and preterm birth, each confounder was individually added to the logistic regression models (S3 Table). Adjusting for hypertension alone showed the greatest attenuation of the association between dyslipidemia and preterm birth of all the individual confounders (OR: 1.53; 95%CI: 1.45, 1.63). Adjusting for other confounders did not affect the odds ratios compared to the unadjusted models.

Discussion

In this retrospective cohort of 2.9 million pregnant women in California, maternal diagnosis of dyslipidemia was significantly associated with increased risk for preterm birth. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the largest investigation of the association between clinical dyslipidemia and risk for preterm birth done to date and it is the only study that we know of to utilize hospital diagnostic codes to define dyslipidemia, which include both familial and non-familial forms of dyslipidemia. The size and diversity of the study population allowed for the investigation of the association between dyslipidemia and preterm birth, stratified by subtypes of dyslipidemia.

Several previous studies have investigated associations between maternal lipid levels during pregnancy and risk for preterm birth [517]. These studies varied in the lipid components they measured, the gestational age at which they were measured, and fasting status, which may explain their discordant findings. For example, of the seven studies that measured all four lipid components [511], four studies failed to identify an association between individual lipid components and risk for preterm birth. Of the three studies that measured only total cholesterol (TC) [1517] one identified a positive association between elevated TC and preterm birth and two identified associations between both low and high TC and preterm birth. A recent meta-analysis identified significant pooled associations between elevated TC, elevated TG and low HDL and preterm birth [27]. All previous studies have used lipid levels as a continuous exposure, although some categorized lipid levels by percentiles. However, this does not mean that these studies sampled women who would have met criteria for dyslipidemia. Thus, our study is unique in its use of a clinically significant exposure.

Of particular interest in the present study is the consistency of the magnitude of association across all subtypes of preterm birth, after adjusting for potential confounders. These adjusted odds ratios ranged from 1.4–1.6 (Table 2), providing strong and consistent evidence that women with maternal dyslipidemia are approximately one-and-a-half times more likely to deliver preterm than comparable women without dyslipidemia regardless of preterm birth subtype.

Dyslipidemia is often comorbid with obesity [26], and obesity has long been known to increase the risk for pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes mellitus and preeclampsia [28]. Dyslipidemia severe enough to warrant a clinical diagnosis may be a marker for more severely disturbed cardiometabolic milieu. Chronic dyslipidemia is accompanied by inflammation, a hallmark of obesity, and acute inflammation triggers altered lipid metabolism [29]. Interestingly, stratification by BMI category did not significantly alter the associations between dyslipidemia and preterm birth among overweight or obese women (S1 Table). However, hypertension had the most affect in attenuating the association. Hypertension is known to co-occur with dyslipidemia and increases the risk for preterm birth. This suggests that dyslipidemia is associated with increased risk for preterm birth independent of obesity and some of that risk is explained by the co-occurrence of hypertension.

A limitation of this study is the lack of information regarding dyslipidemia diagnostic practices. Heterogeneity exists among practitioners in terms of the degree of follow-up testing of lipid levels. Thus, some women may have received a diagnosis after a single abnormal lipid panel, with no repeat testing, while other women may have received a diagnosis following multiple abnormal panels. Some women with dyslipidemia may not have a diagnosis because they have never had their lipid levels tested or they were treated before pregnancy and entered pregnancy with normal lipids. This type of non-differential misclassification would bias the results toward the null. There are currently, no-evidence based standards for how to treat women with dyslipidemia during pregnancy. The most common recommendations include lifestyle changes, glycemic control and close follow-up of the pregnancy [23]. It is unlikely that women were treated with cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins or niacin, since these drugs are contraindicated during pregnancy [30].

It should also be noted that an important limitation of the study is the lack of lipid level information. Such data would have allowed for discrimination between familial, monogenic dyslipidemias, which are characterized by markedly abnormal lipid levels, and non-familial, polygenic dyslipidemias, which typically manifest as less drastic changes in lipid levels. However, a Norwegian study of 895 women with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) found no association between FH and risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth [31]. Thus, we can infer that the association between pure hypercholesterolemia and preterm birth is driven by the non-familial form, which may be exacerbated by the co-occurrence of hypertension. Additionally, assuming a prevalence of 1 in 250 for heterozygous FH [32], only ten women with pure hypercholesterolemia would be expected to have FH in our study, which would likely not influence the results. Further, the detection of small differences in lipids between women who deliver term and preterm is unlikely to be clinically meaningful. In contrast, dyslipidemia is a clinically-validated medical condition that could be readily identified as a risk factor for preterm birth. We were also limited to the accuracy of the data on both the hospital discharge record and the birth certificate record, which could have introduced some bias in the estimates of our confounders. There were large amounts of missing data for maternal age, obesity and education; however, when these variables were considered individually, there was little difference between the unadjusted and adjusted models. Therefore, missing data is unlikely to affect our conclusions.

In conclusion, dyslipidemia, as both an aggregate exposure and individual subtypes, was significantly associated with a 1.5-fold increased risk for preterm birth after adjusting for potential confounders. These findings suggest that dyslipidemia may be a potential factor in the etiology of preterm birth, and may serve as a marker of increased risk for preterm birth. The identification of dyslipidemia as a risk factor for preterm birth is impactful for several reasons: 1) There are few known causal risk factors for preterm birth, as the causes of parturition and preterm birth remain largely unknown, 2) dyslipidemia may be modified by lifestyle changes and medication [30] and 3) severe dyslipidemia receiving a clinical diagnosis may be easy to incorporate into clinical decision-making in the era of electronic medical records. Findings from this study support lipid screening among women of reproductive age and additional studies are needed to determine if diagnosing and treating dyslipidemia early in pregnancy reduces the risk for preterm birth.

Supporting information

S1 Table. Association between dyslipidemia and preterm birth, stratified by BMI category.

(DOCX)

S2 Table. Analysis of consolidation of ICD-9 dyslipidemia codes.

(DOCX)

S3 Table. Analysis of the individual impact of confounders.

(DOCX)

Acknowledgments

Supported by the California Preterm Birth Initiative within the University of California, San Francisco.

Data Availability

The data used in this analysis is owned by the State of California who grants access through an application and approval process. This process is open to any interested researcher or other investigator who seeks access. No special permission was granted for this project. Interested researchers may apply for access to the data at: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CFH/DGDS/Pages/cbp/default.aspx.

Funding Statement

This work was supported by the California Preterm Birth Initiative within the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF7027075). Members of the California Preterm Birth Initiative participated as authors on this manuscript and are specifically noted. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

References

  • 1.Blencowe H, Cousens S, Chou D, Oestergaard M, Say L, Moller AB, et al. Born too soon: the global epidemiology of 15 million preterm births. Reproductive health. 2013;10 Suppl 1:S2. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Ferrero DM, Larson J, Jacobsson B, Di Renzo GC, Norman JE, Martin JN Jr., et al. Cross-Country Individual Participant Analysis of 4.1 Million Singleton Births in 5 Countries with Very High Human Development Index Confirms Known Associations but Provides No Biologic Explanation for 2/3 of All Preterm Births. PloS one. 2016;11(9):e0162506 10.1371/journal.pone.0162506 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Hadden DR, McLaughlin C. Normal and abnormal maternal metabolism during pregnancy. Seminars in fetal & neonatal medicine. 2009;14(2):66–71. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Hartling L, Dryden DM, Guthrie A, Muise M, Vandermeer B, Donovan L. Diagnostic thresholds for gestational diabetes and their impact on pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review. Diabetic medicine: a journal of the British Diabetic Association. 2014;31(3):319–31. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Alleman BW, Smith AR, Byers HM, Bedell B, Ryckman KK, Murray JC, et al. A proposed method to predict preterm birth using clinical data, standard maternal serum screening, and cholesterol. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology. 2013;208(6):472.e1–11. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Chatzi L, Plana E, Daraki V, Karakosta P, Alegkakis D, Tsatsanis C, et al. Metabolic syndrome in early pregnancy and risk of preterm birth. American journal of epidemiology. 2009;170(7):829–36. 10.1093/aje/kwp211 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Emet T, Ustuner I, Guven SG, Balik G, Ural UM, Tekin YB, et al. Plasma lipids and lipoproteins during pregnancy and related pregnancy outcomes. Archives of gynecology and obstetrics. 2013;288(1):49–55. 10.1007/s00404-013-2750-y [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Jelliffe-Pawlowski LL, Ryckman KK, Bedell B, O'Brodovich HM, Gould JB, Lyell DJ, et al. Combined elevated midpregnancy tumor necrosis factor alpha and hyperlipidemia in pregnancies resulting in early preterm birth. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology. 2014;211(2):141.e1–9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Jin WY, Lin SL, Hou RL, Chen XY, Han T, Jin Y, et al. Associations between maternal lipid profile and pregnancy complications and perinatal outcomes: a population-based study from China. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. 2016;16:60 10.1186/s12884-016-0852-9 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Mudd LM, Holzman CB, Catov JM, Senagore PK, Evans RW. Maternal lipids at mid-pregnancy and the risk of preterm delivery. Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica. 2012;91(6):726–35. 10.1111/j.1600-0412.2012.01391.x [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Niromanesh S, Shirazi M, Dastgerdy E, Sharbaf FR, Shirazi M, Khazaeipour Z. Association of hypertriglyceridaemia with pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, gestational diabetes and uterine artery pulsatility index. The National medical journal of India. 2012;25(5):265–7. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Kramer MS, Kahn SR, Rozen R, Evans R, Platt RW, Chen MF, et al. Vasculopathic and thrombophilic risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth. International journal of epidemiology. 2009;38(3):715–23. 10.1093/ije/dyp167 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Vrijkotte TG, Krukziener N, Hutten BA, Vollebregt KC, van Eijsden M, Twickler MB. Maternal lipid profile during early pregnancy and pregnancy complications and outcomes: the ABCD study. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. 2012;97(11):3917–25. 10.1210/jc.2012-1295 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Lei Q, Niu J, Lv L, Duan D, Wen J, Lin X, et al. Clustering of metabolic risk factors and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a prospective cohort study. Diabetes/metabolism research and reviews. 2016;32(8):835–42. 10.1002/dmrr.2803 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Edison RJ, Berg K, Remaley A, Kelley R, Rotimi C, Stevenson RE, et al. Adverse birth outcome among mothers with low serum cholesterol. Pediatrics. 2007;120(4):723–33. 10.1542/peds.2006-1939 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Maymunah AO, Kehinde O, Abidoye G, Oluwatosin A. Hypercholesterolaemia in pregnancy as a predictor of adverse pregnancy outcome. African health sciences. 2014;14(4):967–73. 10.4314/ahs.v14i4.28 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Oluwole AA, Adegbesan-Omilabu MA, Okunade KS. Preterm delivery and low maternal serum cholesterol level: Any correlation? Nigerian medical journal: journal of the Nigeria Medical Association. 2014;55(5):406–10. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision Clinical Modification: NIH National Cancer Institute; 2014 [Available from: https://wiki.nci.nih.gov/display/VKC/International+Classification+of+Diseases+Ninth+Revision+Clinical+Modification.
  • 19.Jelliffe-Pawlowski LL, Baer RJ, Blumenfeld YJ, Ryckman KK, O'Brodovich HM, Gould JB, et al. Maternal characteristics and mid-pregnancy serum biomarkers as risk factors for subtypes of preterm birth. BJOG: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology. 2015;122(11):1484–93. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.About Adult BMI Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2015 [Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/index.html.
  • 21.Ferre C, Callaghan W, Olson C, Sharma A, Barfield W. Effects of maternal age and age-specific preterm birth rates on overall preterm birth rates—United States, 2007 and 2014. MMWR morbidity and mortality weekly report. 2016;65(43):1181–84. 10.15585/mmwr.mm6543a1 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Jin H, Nicodemus-Johnson J. Gender and age stratified analyses of nutrient and dietary pattern associations with circulating lipid levels identify novel gender and age-specific correlations. Nutrients. 2018;10(11):pii:E1760. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Wild R, Weedin EA, Wilson D. Dyslipidemia in pregnancy. Cardiology clinics. 2015;33(2):209–15. 10.1016/j.ccl.2015.01.002 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Baer RJ, McLemore MR, Adler N, Oltman SP, Chambers BD, Kupperman M, et al. Pre-pregnancy or first-trimester risk scoring to identify women at high risk of preterm birth. European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology. 2018;231:235–40. 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2018.11.004 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Bronstein JM, Wingate MS, Brisendine AE. Why is the U.S. preterm birth rate so much higher than the rates in Canada, Great Britain, and Western Europe? International journal of health services: planning, administration, evaluation. 2018;48(4):622–40. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Klop B, Elte JW, Cabezas MC. Dyslipidemia in obesity: mechanisms and potential targets. Nutrients. 2013;5(4):1218–40. 10.3390/nu5041218 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Jiang S, Jiang J, Xu H, Wang S, Liu Z, Li M, et al. Maternal dyslipidemia during pregnancy may increase the risk of preterm birth: A meta-analysis. Taiwanese journal of obstetrics & gynecology. 2017;56(1):9–15. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Leddy MA, Power ML, Schulkin J. The impact of maternal obesity on maternal and fetal health. Reviews in obstetrics & gynecology. 2008;1(4):170–8. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29.Papoutsidakis N, Deftereos S, Giannopoulos G, Panagopoulou V, Manolis AS, Bouras G. Treating dyslipidemias: is inflammation the missing link? Medicinal chemistry (Shariqah (United Arab Emirates)). 2014;10(7):643–52. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30.Stone NJ, Robinson J, Lichtenstein AH, Merz CNB, Blum CB, Eckel RH, et al. 2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk in Adults. A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. 2013. [Google Scholar]
  • 31.Toleikyte I, Retterstol K, Leren TP, Iversen PO. Pregnancy outcomes in familial hypercholesterolemia: a registry-based study. Circulation. 2011;124(15):1606–14. 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.990929 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 32.Bouhairie VE, Goldberg AC. Familial hypercholesterolemia. Cardiology clinics. 2015;33(2):169–79. 10.1016/j.ccl.2015.01.001 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

S1 Table. Association between dyslipidemia and preterm birth, stratified by BMI category.

(DOCX)

S2 Table. Analysis of consolidation of ICD-9 dyslipidemia codes.

(DOCX)

S3 Table. Analysis of the individual impact of confounders.

(DOCX)

Data Availability Statement

The data used in this analysis is owned by the State of California who grants access through an application and approval process. This process is open to any interested researcher or other investigator who seeks access. No special permission was granted for this project. Interested researchers may apply for access to the data at: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CFH/DGDS/Pages/cbp/default.aspx.


Articles from PLoS ONE are provided here courtesy of PLOS

RESOURCES