Serum selenium levels of pre-eclamptic and normal pregnant women in Nigeria: A comparative study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 8; p. e0238263
• Main Authors: Eze, Stephen Chijioke, Ododo, Nathan Azubuike, Ugwu, Emmanuel Onyebuchi, Enebe, Joseph Tochukwu, Onyegbule, Onyema Athanatius, Eze, Innocent Okafor, Ezem, Bamidele Uche
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 27-08-2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Antioxidants; Atomic absorption analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Blood pressure; Blood Pressure - drug effects; Case-Control Studies; Causes of; Comparative studies; Control methods; Correlation; Correlation analysis; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Data analysis; Diabetes; Diagnosis; Economic analysis; Enzymes; Female; Food and nutrition; Gestational Age; Gynecology; Health aspects; Health care facilities; Humans; Hypertension; Kidney diseases; Laboratories; Medical examination; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mortality; Nigeria; Obstetrics; Oxidative stress; Pathogenesis; Peroxynitrite; Physical Sciences; Placenta; Pre-eclampsia; Pre-Eclampsia - blood; Preeclampsia; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women; Risk factors; Sample size; Selenium; Selenium (Nutrient); Selenium - blood; Selenoproteins; Social sciences; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomics; Spectral analysis; Spectrophotometers; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Trace elements; Trace Elements - blood; Womens health; Young Adult; Nigeria
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238263

Trace element selenium, an antioxidant, and peroxynitrite scavenger when incorporated into selenoproteins and enzymes reduce oxidative stress which is implicated in the aetiopathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. A paucity of information exists on the serum selenium levels among pre-eclamptic pregnant women in Nigeria, hence the need for this study.
To compare mean serum selenium levels and prevalence of selenium deficiency in preeclamptic pregnant women and their normotensive pregnant controls.
A comparative case-control study was carried out at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo state. Fifty-eight preeclamptic and equal normotensive pregnant controls were matched for age groups, gestational age groups, parity groups, and socio-economic status had their serum samples analyzed for selenium level using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (ASS). Data analysis was done using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. P-value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Mean serum selenium levels of the preeclamptic women(0.67±0.27μmol/l) was significantly (p<0.001) lower than that of the normotensive controls(1.20±0.46μmol/l). Selenium deficiency occurred significantly more in preeclamptic women (33(56.9%) than normotensive women (10(17.2%). Pearson's coefficient analysis showed negative correlation between serum selenium level with severity of systolic blood pressure (Correlation Coefficient (r) = -0.593), diastolic blood pressure(r = -0.519) and severity of preeclampsia(r = -0.598).
Serum selenium levels of pre-eclamptic women were significantly lower compared to that of normotensive pregnant controls and selenium deficiency occurred significantly more among the preeclamptic pregnant women compared to the normotensive controls. Selenium level dynamics in pregnancy possibly could play a role in the incidence of pre-eclampsia among pregnant women.