Adriëtte Oostvogels

In Chapter 2 the blood pressure course of women with overweight was compared with blood pressure course of women with normal weight in a population of 2500 pregnant women. Moreover, women were divided in tertiles based on their concentration of early pregnancy triglycerides (TG), free fatty acids (FFA), total cholesterol (TC), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and the impact of these lipids on blood pressure course was studied as well. Women with overweight had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure than women with normal weight from early pregnancy onwards. Independent of their weight status, women in the highest lipid tertile also had consistently higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure during pregnancy. The combination of overweight and an atherogenic lipid profile resulted in the highest blood pressures compared to blood pressure of women with normal weight and a healthy lipid profile. Chapter 3 describes the associations of maternal pBMI with early pregnancy lipid profile and offspring’s body composition in early childhood in 1727 mother-child pairs. Maternal pBMI was positively associated with early pregnancy lipid profile and both were independently positively associated with offspring’s childhood body composition. An increased maternal pBMI was associated with higher BMI, waist- to-height ratio (WHtR), fat percentage and increased odds for overweight in the offspring. Maternal FFA were positively associated with fat percentage, BMI, and odds for overweight. Higher maternal TC and ApoB were associated with higher fat percentage in the offspring and maternal TG was positively associated with WHtR. No indications were found that early pregnancy lipid profile mediated the association between maternal pBMI and offspring’s childhood body composition. In Chapter 4 the impact of maternal early pregnancy lipid profile on offspring’s lipid profile and glucose metabolism at age 5-6 years was studied in 1133 mother- child pairs. Maternal TC was positively associated with offspring’s TC, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and TG. Maternal ApoA1 was positively associated with offspring’s high density lipoprotein (HDL), TC and TG. Higher maternal ApoB was associated with higher TC, LDL and TG in her offspring. Maternal TG were positively associated with offspring’s TG, TC and LDL. Associations were more pronounced in girls than in boys. No associations were found with offspring’s glucose metabolism. Also, no indications were found for a mediating role of offspring’s fat percentage in the association between maternal early pregnancy lipid profile and offspring’s lipid profile. 247 Summary