Public release date: 1-Oct-2007

Pregnant women who have very low cholesterol may face a greater risk of delivering their babies prematurely than women with more moderate cholesterol levels, a team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), reported today.

“Based on our initial findings, it appears that too little cholesterol may be as bad as too much cholesterol during pregnancy, but it is too early to extrapolate these results to the general population. More research is needed to replicate this outcome and to extend it to other groups,” said Dr. Muenke, the study’s senior author and chief of the Medical Genetics Branch in NHGRI’s Division of Intramural Research. “For now, the best advice for pregnant women is to follow the guidance of their health care providers when it comes to diet and exercise.”

In their study of 1,058 South Carolina women and their newborns, researchers found about 5 percent of the women with cholesterol levels in the moderate range of 159-261 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) gave birth prematurely. In contrast, white women with the lowest cholesterol levels — less than 159 mg/dl — had a 21 percent incidence of premature births. Interestingly, no increase in premature births was observed among African American women in the low-cholesterol category. However, full-term babies born to both white and African Americans with low cholesterol weighed 5 ounces less on average than full-term babies born to women with moderate cholesterol.