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Placental zinc in normal and intra-uterine growth-retarded pregnancies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Ashok Malhotra ,
Susan J. Fairweather-Tait ,
P. A. Wharton  and
H. Gee
Ashok Malhotra
Affiliation:
Granton Surgery, 114 Middleton Hall Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham B30 IDJ
Susan J. Fairweather-Tait
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Food Research, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UA
P. A. Wharton
Affiliation:
Department of Human Nutrition, University of Glasgow, Yorkhill Hospitals, Glasgow G3 8SJ
H. Gee
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT
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Abstract

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The zinc concentration of placental tissue and cord blood in sixteen mothers who gave birth to normal babies was measured. The blood volume of each placenta was estimated from measurements of haemoglobin concentration of placental homogenate and cord blood, and, by deduction, the Zn content of blood-free placental tissue was calculated. Results were compared with eleven mothers whose fetuses showed a low biparietal diameter velocity between 17 and 28 weeks gestation and with ten mothers who gave birth to intra-uterine growth-retarded (IUGR) babies. As expected, placental weight was significantly correlated with infant birth weight. Blood-free placental tissue contained about four times xmore Zn (approximately 10 µg Zn/g) than cord blood (approximately 2.5 µg Zn/ml). Concentrations of Zn in blood-free placental tissue were similar in all three groups, but the cord blood Zn of mothers producing IUGR babies was significantly lower than that of the other two groups. Results of the present study suggested that fetal growth retardation in the mothers studied could not be explained by differences in blood-free placental Zn concentration, but that there may be some association between lower cord blood Zn levels and intra-uterine growth retardation.

Keywords

Placental zincPregnancy outcomeIntra-uterine growth retardationZinc
Type
Minerals, Nutrition, Metabolism, Bioavailability
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 63 , Issue 3 , May 1990 , pp. 613 - 621
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1990

References

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