Relationship between Zinc Concentration of Amniotic Fluid and Maternal Plasma and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

Zinc deficiency has been suggested as a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Since dealing with zinc deficiency is an easy and inexpensive method, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between adverse pregnancy outcomes and zinc concentration of amniotic fluid and maternal plasma in the second trimester and biomarkers of the first and second trimester.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 102 pregnant mothers who were candidates for amniocentesis in Mousavi Hospital in Zanjan in 2018 through convenience sampling. Women with normal amniocentesis results were followed up until delivery in terms of adverse pregnancy outcomes (incidence of preeclampsia, intrauterine growth retardation, premature delivery, fetal death, and low birth weight) and were divided into two groups with adverse pregnancy outcomes (first group) and without adverse pregnancy outcomes (second group) and were compared in terms of zinc concentration in plasma and amniotic fluid.

The concentration of zinc in the plasma of the mothers of the first group (59.53±15.88 µg/dl) was significantly lower than that of the mothers of the second group (71.44±19.25 µg/dl) (p=0.02). However, there was no significant difference in the concentration of zinc in the amniotic fluid of the two study groups. In this study, the best cutoff point to determine people at risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes was determined to be 60.5 µg/dl.

Based on the results of this study, there seems to be a relationship between low zinc concentration of plasma in pregnant women and adverse outcomes.