Role of serum vitamin a and e in pregnancy

Abstract

Serum levels of vitamin A and E in early, middle and late pregnancy were analyzed to evaluate vitamin nutritional status in pregnancy, and provide guidance for pregnant women about vitamin supplements in pregnancy. In total, 28,023 serum samples were randomly selected from pregnant women in early, middle and late pregnancy between January 2013 and June 2014 in Beijing. High performance liquid chromatog-raphy (HPLC) method was used to determine the concentration of serum vitamin A and E in pregnancy. The concentration of serum vitamin A in early, middle and late pregnancy was 0.33±0.08, 0.37±0.09 and 0.33±0.15 mg/l, respectively, total abnormal rate was 25.31%, and deficiency (24.98%) was the main feature. The rate of deficiency in the early pregnancy (38.22%) was greater than that in late pregnancy (35.13%). The serum vitamin E in early, middle and late pregnancy was 9.10±2.47, 14.24±3.66 and 15.80±5.01 mg/l, respectively, total abnormal rate was 5.60%, and excess (5.37%) was the main feature. The excess rate in early pregnancy was at the lowest level (0.50%), and reached the highest level (15.32%) in late pregnancy. The serum levels of vitamin A and E are different during pregnancy. Generally, vitamin A is deficient and vitamin E is in excess. Therefore, monitoring the vitamin A and E levels, and strengthening perinatal education and providing guidance for pregnant women to supply vitamins rationally play important role in guaranteeing maternal and fetal safety production, immunity and reproduction (2), especially during pregnancy. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) not only increases the risk of miscarriage, night blindness, and pregnancy complication, but also affects the embryonic development. Severe deficiency causes fetal malformations. Excessive vitamin A increases birth defect risks (3). Vitamin E is an essential vitamin for maintaining the metabolic function of the body and possesses antioxidant and scavenging free radical activities (1). The deficiency of vitamin E in pregnant women leads to placental aging, vascular endothelial injury, incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, placental abruption, abortion and premature birth (4). While excessive vitamin E in the body affects the absorption and function of other fat-soluble vitamins. However, there are scarce studies analyzing the values of serum vitamin A and E during pregnancy in China. Therefore, there is an urgent need to study serum levels of vitamin A and E in pregnancy. This study was designed to analyze the serum levels of vitamin A and E in early, middle and late pregnancy, evaluating the vitamin nutritional status in pregnancy in order to provide guidance for pregnant women about vitamin supplements in pregnancy.