Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Maternal Serum Zinc, Copper, Magnesium, and Iron in Spontaneous Abortions

  • Original Research Article
  • Published:
Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Twenty five percent of pregnant women have some degree of vaginal bleeding during the first trimester, and about 50% of those pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion (SA) because the fetus is not developing typically. As studies have reported that inadequacies of trace metals such as Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Magnesium (Mg) can predispose to various adverse pregnancy outcomes (PO); multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementations are given without justifying their deficiency and toxicities on the fetus. Earlier studies on effects of MMN supplementations during pregnancy have not considered the need, duration, dose, and time of initiation of supplementations leading to inconclusive results. So, there is a need to optimize this to prevent their abuse and side effects. This study can help in establishing critical cut-offs of these minerals in maternal serum that can forecast future pregnancy outcomes. Study measured the serum Zn, Cu, Mg, and Fe in pregnant women who presented with (n = 80) and without (n = 100) SA at 5–2 weeks of pregnancy using iron -ferrozine method, magnesium-calmagite method, zinc reaction with nitro-PAPS, copper reaction with Di-Br- PAESA methods, respectively. Data analyzed using the student t test and cutoff value was established using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) by SPSS software. Maternal serum Cu, Mg, Fe, and Zn levels measured were significantly lower in SA as compared to that of controls (p < 0.005) (Fig. 1) and maternal age and Body mass index were not statistically significant different among study group. Maternal serum Cu, Mg, Zn and Iron (Fe) measured in 5–12 weeks of pregnancy has the potential to forecast future occurrence of SA. The study has been registered under “The Clinical Trials Registry- India (CTRI),” -REF/2020/01/030393.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Turan K, Arslan A, Uçkan K, Demir H, Demir C. Change of the levels of trace elements and heavy metals in threatened abortion. J Chin Med Assoc. 2019;82(7):554–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Thaker R, Oza H, Shaikh I, Kumar S. Correlation of copper and zinc in spontaneous abortion. Int J Fertility Sterility. 2019;13(2):97.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Sami AS, Suat E, Alkis I, Karakus Y, Guler S. The role of trace element, mineral, vitamin and total antioxidant status in women with habitual abortion. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2021;34(7):1055–62.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wu G, Imhoff-Kunsch B, Girard AW. Biological mechanisms for nutritional regulation of maternal health and fetal development. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2012;26:4–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Borella P, Szilagyi A, Than G, Csaba I, Giardino A, Facchinetti F. Maternal plasma concentrations of magnesium, calcium, zinc and copper in normal and pathological pregnancies. Sci Total Environ. 1990;99(1–2):67–76.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kojima C, Shoji H, Ikeda N, Kitamura T, Hisata K, Shimizu T. Association of zinc and copper with clinical parameters in the preterm newborn. Pediatr Int. 2017;59(11):1165–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Pathak P, Kapil U. Role of trace elements zinc, copper and magnesium during pregnancy and its outcome. Indian J Pediatrics. 2004;71(11):1003–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Pérez-Debén S, Gonzalez-Martin R, Palomar A, Quiñonero A, Salsano S, Dominguez F. Copper and lead exposures disturb reproductive features of primary endometrial stromal and epithelial cells. Reprod Toxicol. 2020;93:106–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Brown B, Wright C. Safety and efficacy of supplements in pregnancy. Nutr Rev. 2020;78(10):813–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Saxena T, Agarwal BK, Makwane HS, Kare P. Study of serum zinc and magnesium levels in patients of liver cirrhosis. Biomed Pharmacol J. 2015;5(2):327–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ahmed SE, Maher FT, Naji NA. Effect of Thyroid Hormones and Trace Elements (Zn, Mg) on Obesity. Tikrit J Pure Sci. 2018;21(6):78–84.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Walle BM, Adekunle AO, Arowojolu AO, Dugul TT, Mebiratie AL. Micronutrients deficiency and their associations with pregnancy outcomes: a review. Nutr Diet Suppl. 2020;12:237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ahmadi R, Ziaei S, Parsay S. Association between nutritional status with spontaneous abortion. Int J Fertility Sterility. 2017;10(4):337.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bakhshandeh Nosrat S, Ghaemi EA, Ahmadi A, Behnampour N, Marjani A, Mansourian AR. Maternal serum copper concentration in premature rupture of membrane: a case-control study. J Biol Sci. 2014;14(1):73–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Wang H, Hu YF, Hao JH, Chen YH, Su PY, Wang Y, et al. Maternal zinc deficiency during pregnancy elevates the risks of fetal growth restriction: a population-based birth cohort study. Sci Rep. 2015;5(1):1.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Okunade KS, Oluwole AA, Adegbesan-Omilabu MA. A study on the association between low maternal serum magnesium level and preterm labour. Advances in medicine. 2014.

  17. Miodovnik M, Mimouni F, Siddiqi TA, Tsang RC. Periconceptional metabolic status and risk for spontaneous abortion in insulin-dependent diabetic pregnancies. Am J Perinatol. 1988;5(04):368–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Ying Y, Pan P, Zou C, Wang Y, Tang Y, Hou X, et al. Tebuconazole exposure disrupts placental function and causes fetal low birth weight in rats. Chemosphere. 2021;264:128432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Díaz-López A, Ribot B, Basora J, Arija V. High and low haemoglobin levels in early pregnancy are associated to a higher risk of miscarriage: a population-based cohort study. Nutrients. 2021;13(5):1578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India [File No 5/7/79/MH/Adhoc/2020-RBMCH] for funding this research project to Mahadev Rao. All the authors stated in the study equally contributed to the study design, and the principal author made analysis and performance of the study. The article was written and reviewed by the principal and corresponding author. We acknowledge Kasturba hospital, Manipal, Manipal Academy of higher education to permit us and provide patients for the study.

Funding

The present study analysis funding contributed by Kasturba medical college, Manipal, Manipal Academy of higher education, Manipal, India.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India

    Sairoz & Krishnananda Prabhu

  2. Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India

    Vidyashree G. Poojari

  3. Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India

    Sahana Shetty

  4. Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India

    Mahadeva Rao

  5. Data Science, Prasanna Schools of Public Health Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India

    Asha Kamath

Authors
  1. Sairoz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Krishnananda Prabhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vidyashree G. Poojari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sahana Shetty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mahadeva Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Asha Kamath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

S-Protocol/project development, Data collection or management, Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing, Patient recruitment. KP-Protocol/project development, Manuscript writing/editing. VGP-Protocol/project development, Patient recruitment. SS-Protocol/project development. MR- Protocol/project development. AK-Statistical analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Krishnananda Prabhu.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest.

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical Approval

This study was approved by the appropriate institutional ethics committee- Kasturba medical college and the hospital institutional ethical committee (IEC:182/2018) and the study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study has been registered under “The Clinical Trials Registry- India (CTRI),” -REF/2020/01/030393.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sairoz, Prabhu, K., Poojari, V.G. et al. Maternal Serum Zinc, Copper, Magnesium, and Iron in Spontaneous Abortions. Ind J Clin Biochem 38, 128–131 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-022-01043-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-022-01043-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation