ABSTRACT
Adequate maternal selenium level is essential for immune response and healthy pregnancy. This study aimed to shed light on the selenium status of pregnant women with COVID-19 and the effects of potential deficiency in serum selenium levels. Totally 141 pregnant women, 71 of them were COVID-19 patients, in different trimesters were included in the study. Maternal serum selenium levels, demographic and clinical parameters were determined. Serum selenium levels of pregnant women in the second (p: .0003) and third (p: .001) trimesters with COVID-19 were significantly lower than in the healthy group. Maternal selenium level was found to be negatively correlated with gestational week (p < .0001, r: -.541), D-dimer (p: .0002, r: -.363) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) level (p: .02, r: -.243). In the second trimester, serum selenium level positively correlated with white blood cell (p: .002, r: .424), neutrophil (p: .006, r: .39), lymphocyte (p: .004, r: .410) count and hemoglobin (p: .02, r: .323), hematocrit (p: .008, r: .38) status. In the third trimester, it was found that maternal selenium level positively correlated with monocyte (p: .04, r: .353) and negatively correlated with C-reactive protein level (p: .03, r: -.384). Serum selenium level was gradually decreased during the pregnancy period, however, this natural decrease was enhanced together with COVID-19 infection. The reason might be increased selenium needs depended on the immune response against infection. The decrease in maternal selenium level was found to be related to IL-6 and D-dimer levels, which indicate selenium's role in disease progression.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/blood , COVID-19/immunology , Pregnancy Trimesters/blood , SARS-CoV-2/pathogenicity , Selenium/blood , Adult , Biomarkers/blood , C-Reactive Protein/metabolism , COVID-19/virology , Case-Control Studies , Female , Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products/metabolism , Hematocrit , Hemoglobins/metabolism , Humans , Interleukin-6/blood , Lymphocytes/immunology , Lymphocytes/virology , Monocytes/immunology , Monocytes/virology , Neutrophils/immunology , Neutrophils/virology , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Trimesters/immunology , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of folate and vitamin B12 levels on pregnancy progression and outcomes. METHODS: The present study is a prospective follow up study of 100 pregnant women. Biochemical investigations (plasma homocysteine, folate, and vitamin B12 levels) were performed on all pregnant women in first, second, and third trimesters. Nonparametric tests were used to compare the differences in median levels and odds ratio analysis for the assessment of the risk between the selected biomarkers and adverse pregnancy progression and outcomes. RESULTS: The pregnant women at their first antenatal care visit were found to be predominantly folate replete (97%) and vitamin B12 deficient (60%). Hyperhomocysteinemia in first and second trimesters was found to pose more than 3-fold increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes (P = .006 and .0002, respectively). Low birth weight (LBW) was found to be the most common adverse pregnancy outcome (52%), and was significantly associated with vitamin B12 deficiency in the first and second trimesters (82%, P < .0001; 71.4%, P = .04, respectively). CONCLUSION: The vitamin B12 deficiency is more common among Indian pregnant women as compared to folate deficiency. Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for pregnancy complications. Vitamin B12 deficiency in first and second trimesters is associated with LBW babies.