Maternal-foetal status of copper, iron, molybdenum, selenium and zinc in obese gestational diabetic pregnancies

Abstract

Obesity is well known to be a contributory risk factor for several disease states, including diabetes mellitus. Paucity of data on maternal-foetal status of essential trace elements in obese diabetic pregnancies prompted us to undertake this study. Maternal venous and umbilical arterial and venous blood samples were collected from obese gestational diabetic patients (Body Mass Index (BMI) >30) and control obese pregnant women (BMI>30) at time of spontaneous delivery or caesarean sections and concentrations of essential trace elements such as Cu, Fe, Mo, Se and Zn were determined in various samples by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Activities of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and total antioxidant (TAO) in maternal and umbilical blood were assessed using appropriate reagent kits. Maternal-foetal disposition and exchange parameters of elements studied were assessed using established criteria. Concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mo, Se and Zn in serum of control obese pregnant women (n=10) averaged 2404, 2663, 11.0, 89.0 and 666 microg/l respectively, while in the obese diabetic group (n=11), the corresponding values averaged 2441, 2580, 13.3, 85.1 and 610 microg/l respectively. Activities of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, GPX and TAO were not significantly different in maternal veins of control and diabetic groups. Varying differences were noted in the case of antioxidant enzyme activities in umbilical blood samples of control and study groups. We conclude that obesity is not associated with significant alterations in antioxidant enzyme status in gestational diabetes and only with relatively minor alterations in status of some essential trace elements.

Comparative metal distribution in scalp hair of Pakistani and Irish referents and diabetes mellitus patients

“…In the present study, the correlation of essential and nonessential elements in scalp hair of DM-2 patients of both genders related to non-diabetic subjects belonging to Pakistan and Ireland was carried out. The results presented in Table 4 for healthy subjects and DM-2 patients confirm higher levels of Cd and Pb while lower values of Mg, Mn, Zn and Cr are associated with diabetes, which are consistent with other studies [31][32][33][34]. The results showed that the level of Mg was significantly lower in scalp hair samples of DM-2 patients as related to referents (P <0.001 ).…”

Serum selenium level and gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The characteristics of the studies included in the present meta-analysis are given in Table 1. Of the seven studies included in the meta-analysis, two were carried out in Kuwait [17, 20], one in China [16], one in Italy [18], one in Turkey [19], one in Hungar [22] and one in Sudan [21]. GDM was usually diagnosed during the 24–28 weeks of gestation.…”

“…The definition used for GDM was the criteria proposed by Carpenter and Coustan in three studies [18, 19, 21], and the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria in two studies [20, 22]. Blood samples for selenium measurement were collected in the second [16, 18, 19, 22] and third [16, 17, 20, 21] trimester of gestation. Six studies were case-control [16–18, 20–22], and one cross-sectional design [19].…”

“…Blood samples for selenium measurement were collected in the second [16, 18, 19, 22] and third [16, 17, 20, 21] trimester of gestation. Six studies were case-control [16–18, 20–22], and one cross-sectional design [19]. The sample size of these studies ranged from 10 to 123.…”

“…In this regard, some studies reported that women with GDM showed lower concentrations of serum selenium than healthy pregnant women [16–19], while Molnar et al showed the contrary [22]. Meanwhile, no significant association between serum selenium and GDM was documented [20, 21]. …”