Abstract
Objective: During pregnancy, lipid metabolism is characterized by accumulation of fats during the first half of pregnancy and an increase in catabolism during the later stages. However, the underlying mechanisms for this
shift are not well understood. We attempted to clarify the involvement of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored
high-density lipoprotein-binding protein 1（ GPIHBP-1）, an anchor protein for lipoprotein lipase（ LPL）, which is a
major lipid metabolism enzyme, by measuring its blood levels during pregnancy.
Methods: Blood samples were collected from non-pregnant women and from pregnant women at different stages: early pregnancy （up to 20 weeks of gestation）, mid-pregnancy （21–33 weeks of gestation）, late pregnancy （34–41 weeks of gestation）, and puerperium（ 4–8 weeks after delivery）. The levels of LPL and GPIHBP-1 were measured in each sample. In addition, these values were adjusted for albumin concentration to account for the effects
of physiological blood dilution due to pregnancy.
Results: During pregnancy, GPIHBP-1 and LPL blood concentrations decreased transiently but returned to nonpregnant levels after delivery. When adjusted for albumin concentration, the decrease in GPIHBP-1 levels was negated, while the decrease of LPL levels was preserved.
Conclusions: During the course of normal pregnancy, the levels of GPIHBP-1 showed a transient decrease,
which was thought to be due to physiological dilution. The levels of blood LPL also showed transient decrease probably due to inhibition of lipolysis.
