Study of the Concentration of Trace Elements Fe, Zn, Cu, Se and Their Correlation in Maternal Serum, Cord Serum and Colostrums

A study of iron, zinc, copper and selenium concentration levels was carried out in three compartments namely, maternal serum (MS), colostrums and cord blood serum (CS) of healthy Indian mothers (n = 42) who delivered healthy normal neonates without any congenital anomalies at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre hospital, Mumbai. Fe, Zn, Cu in maternal serum, cord blood and colostrums were estimated by flame atomic absorption spectrometry while Se was determined by graphite furnace absorption spectrometry. It was seen that there was a significant difference in the level of trace elements in the three compartments. The average levels of Fe in the three compartments were 1,132 +/- 519, 2,312 +/- ! 789 and 1,183 +/- 602 mu g/L while Zn was 514 +/- 149, 819 +/- 224 and 7,148 +/- 2,316 mu g/L respectively. Mean Cu values were 1,614 +/- 295, 301 +/- 77 and 392 +/- 174 mu g/L respectively while Se values were 70 +/- 15, 36 +/- 10 and 23 +/- 8 mu g/L respectively. The results indicated a positive correlation of Fe and Zn concentrations in MS versus CS which were (r = 0.386), (r = 0.572) respectively and Fe levels in MS and colostrums (r = 0.235). A few inter element correlations were found within compartments. Zn and Se showed a negative correlation in both MS (r = -0.489) and colostrums (r = -0.258) while a positive inter correlation of Fe and Zn was seen in MS (r = 0.44) and in CS (r = 0.54). This study gave us an overview of the serum and colostrum values of mother and neonates in Indian population, data of which are scarce.