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Is the Concentration of Cadmium, Lead, Mercury, and Selenium Related to Preterm Birth?

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Abstract

Environmental pollution and exposure of people to heavy metals cause many bad obstetric outcomes. Our aim is to demonstrate the role of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and selenium (Se) in preterm labor etiology with a case-control study. In this study, between November 2017 and April 2018, preterm delivery mothers and term delivery mothers were compared in Çorum, Turkey. All deliveries were performed with cesarean sections and there were 30 mothers in the control group and 20 in the study group. The maternal blood, maternal urine, umbilical cord blood, and heavy metal levels in the amnion fluid in both groups were studied. Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry was used to determine the blood concentration of Cd, Pb, Hg, and Se. We found lower levels of selenium in blood and urine of preterm delivery mothers and umbilical cord and amnion fluids of preterm infants (p < 0.01). We found a statistically significant positive correlation at selenium levels between mother’s blood and umbilical cord blood (r (50) = 0.896, p < 0.001) and between maternal urine and amniotic fluid (r (50) = 0.841, p < 0.001). We have not found a similar correlation between mother and fetus of other metals (p > 0.05). We found that selenium levels were lower in mothers who were preterm birth in the light of the data in our study. We could not determine the positive or negative correlation of Cd, Pb, and Hg levels in blood, urine, and amniotic fluid samples with preterm birth.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Çorum Municipality. Our work was supported by the program “I have a project for Çorum” initiated by the Hitit University and the Municipality of Çorum. We would also like to thank Hitit University Scientific Technique Application and Research Center for their help in analysis on samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Hitit University, Corum, Turkey

    Engin Yıldırım, Özgür Koçak, Özgür Kan & Ümit Görkem

  2. Department of Medical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Kirikkale University, Yahsihan, Kirikkale, Turkey

    Mehmet Kürşat Derici

  3. Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Hitit University, Corum, Turkey

    Emre Demir

  4. HUBTUAM Research Center, Hitit University, Corum, Turkey

    Hakan Apaydın

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  1. Engin Yıldırım
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Correspondence to Mehmet Kürşat Derici.

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Before the start of the study, approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Hitit University Medical Faculty in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. Informed consent forms were obtained from the patients included in the study.

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Yıldırım, E., Derici, M.K., Demir, E. et al. Is the Concentration of Cadmium, Lead, Mercury, and Selenium Related to Preterm Birth?. Biol Trace Elem Res 191, 306–312 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1625-2

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