Evaluation of serum lipid profile of under-five Nigerian children

BACKGROUND: Serum lipid profile assay forms one of the special investigations in most chemical pathology laboratories worldwide. Several studies in children from different countries have shown that serum lipids exhibit age and geographical pattern of variation prior to puberty. This study was conducted to evaluate serum lipid profile in Nigerian children aged 6 to 36 months. METHODS: A total of 115 randomly selected apparently healthy children were studied. These consisted of 38, 40 and 37 children in groups I (6 to 12 months), II (13 to 24 months) and III (25 to 36 months) respectively. There were 60 male and 55 female children. Serum concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG) were measured by enzymatic colorimetric method using reagent kits supplied by Human, Gesel Für Biochemica Und Diagnostica mbH (Wiesbaden, Germany). Serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were subsequently estimated using Friedewald formula. RESULTS: The reference ranges and (Mean +/- SEM) of serum TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, TG, VLDL-C and TC/HDL-C for the total group of children were 1.55-5.42(2.89 +/- 0.12), 0.50-3.29(1.28 +/- 0.15), 0.45-2.77(1.12 +/- 0.14). 0.93-3.43(0.79 +/- 0.14), 0.17-0.72(0.35 +/- 0.14) mmol/L and 1.01-4.74(2.19 +/- 0.13) respectively. There were no sex differences in all these parameters. Serum levels of TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TC/HDL-C in the 3 age groups were also statistically similar (p > 0.05). Concentrations of TG and VLDL-C were lower (p < 0.001) in group II than in I. These values were also significantly lower (p < 0.02) in group III than in I. Serum TG and VLDL-C in groups II and III were statistically comparable (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Serum concentrations of TC, TG and VLDL-C decrease with advancing age, with more marked decrease between first and second years of life. We hereby recommend that the reference values established in this study be utilized for the interpretation of serum lipid results in pre-school children in Nigerian hospitals and possibly elsewhere in Africa.