Comparison of Plasma Copper, Iron and Zinc Levels in Hypertensive and Non-hypertensive Pregnant Women in Abakaliki, South Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

With the increasing speculations of the involvement of nutrition, particularly trace elements in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia, a comparative study of plasma copper, iron and zinc levels was carried out between preeclamptic and non-eclamptic Nigerian women living in Abakaliki, Southeastern Nigeria. Data for 40 preeclamptic and 40 non-eclamptic women matched for age, gestational age, Body Mass Index (BMI), parity and socioeconomic status from a cohort of 349 pregnant women recruited at gestational age <25 weeks for the assessment of impacts of trace elements’ status on pregnancy outcomes were analyzed. In addition to trace elements which were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Buck Scientific, Model AVG 210), Total White Blood Cell Count (TWBC) and Haemoglobin Concentration (HbC) were determined using standard laboratory techniques. The preeclamptic and the non-eclamptic women had comparable TWBC and HbC with the former having significantly (p < 0.05) higher blood pressure. However, although, the preeclamptic women had lower plasma copper, iron and zinc levels than the non-eclamptic women, only copper was found to be statistically significant (6.02±7.23 vs. 10.23±9.84 μmol/l, p<0.05). It is thus concluded that preeclampsia is associated with significant decrease in plasma copper. Further research is desired to elucidate the role of trace elements, especially copper in the pathogenesis of pregnancy induced hypertension.