Serum zinc and copper concentrations in pregnant women from Kuwait

✍ Scribed by A. Al-Bader; T. Hussain; M. Al-Mosawi; M. Otaibi; H. Abul; D. Khalifa; H. Dashti

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 211 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0896-548X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-670x(1997)10:4<209::aid-jtra1>3.0.co;2-4

✦ Synopsis

Although it is well known that plasma concentrations of certain essential trace elements such as zinc and copper are altered during pregnancy, such data are not available for women in Kuwait. We analyzed the plasma of 120 pregnant Kuwaiti women aged 19-40 years (mean age 27 ± 5.7 years) and 40 controls of similar age. Blood samples from the pregnant women were collected during the first (n ‫ס‬ 40), second (n ‫ס‬ 40), and third (n ‫ס‬ 40) trimesters. The trace elements were analyzed by flame as well as graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results indicated that the levels of zinc decreased steadily and significantly from the first trimester through the third trimester, with a reciprocal increase in the level of copper during the same period. Thus, the copper/zinc ratio increased steadily from first trimester to the third trimester (3.5 ± 1.8, 3.9 ± 1.1, and 5.8 ± 3.3, respectively) compared to the control ratio, which was 2 ± 1. The maximum decrease in zinc and maximum increase in copper were observed during weeks (35-36) of pregnancy. Such changes could be due to the requirements of the fetus for growth.