Cent Eur J Public Health 1999, 7(1):40-42

Relation between concentration of lead, zinc and lysozyme in placentas of women with intrauterine foetal growth retardation

Richter J.¹, Hájek Z.², Pfeifer I.³, Šubrt P.¹

¹ Public Health Institute, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic

² Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University Hospital, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

³ Institute of Preventive Medicine, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Intrauterine foetal growth retardation (IUGR) implies increased risk of morbidity and mortality of the newborn. Aetiology of intrauterine retardation is probably multifactorial and may include maternal infection, malnutrition, placental dysfunction, hypertension, toxaemia, smoking, professional and environmental exposure. The work concentrates on the lead, zinc and lysozyme levels in blood and placental tissues of 50 females in the IUGR group and 43 females from a control group. Statistically significant differences in zinc and lead levels between the compared group were found. The IUGR group had lower zinc and higher lead levels. A significant negative correlation of zinc and lead levels was observed. We found a statistically significant relationship between lead levels in placental tissues and the age of the pregnant women. Higher age is associated with higher lead levels in placental tissue, whereas zinc levels decrease. In placental tissues of pregnant females of the IUGR group higher lysozyme levels were found. On the basis of the discussed results the authors recommend zinc supplementation during the pregnancy.

Zveřejněno: 1. únor 1999  Zobrazit citaci