The Associations of Maternal Blood Hemoglobin and Serum Triglyceride Levels and the Risk of Preterm Delivery

The abnormal hemoglobin (HGB) and serum lipid concentrations during pregnancy will increase the risk of preterm delivery. Our study aimed to explore the correlation between prenatal HGB and serum lipid levels and preterm delivery. We enrolled 215 mother-infant pairs in a pilot cohort study. The logistic regression model and Restricted Cubic Spline model (RCS) were used to investigate the levels of prenatal blood HGB and serum lipid such as triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein and preterm delivery. The results showed that moderate levels of prenatal blood HGB (OR=0.28; 95%CI: 0.10, 0.75, p-trend=0.018) and high level of serum TG (OR=0.29; 95%CI: 0.10, 0.84, p-trend=0.022) level were negatively associated with the risk of preterm delivery. The joint effect results showed that compared with lower level of prenatal blood HGB (<= 123.13 g/l) and TG (<= 3.7 mmol/l), we found that high levels prenatal blood HGB and serum TG (OR=0.32, 95%CI: 0.12, 0.89) had a negative association with the risk of preterm delivery. Moreover, prenatal blood HGB and serum TG levels had negative linear dose-effect relationships with the risk of preterm delivery in overall and girl group (p<0.05). Moderate levels of prenatal blood HGB and high level of serum TG were negatively associated with the risk of preterm delivery. The joint effect of high levels prenatal HGB and prenatal serum TG in the normal range were negatively correlated with preterm delivery. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms should be clarified in future studies.