ZINC LEVEL IN APPARENTLY PREGNANT WOMEN IN URBAN AREA

Abstract

Pregnancy is the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as an embryo or foetus in a woman’s uterus. It is a critical stage of development during which maternal nutrition can strongly influence obstetric and neonatal outcomes. This study investigated the level of serum zinc levels among pregnant women attending antenatal in urban areas in Enugu. A total number of 100 pregnant women (test) and 50 non-pregnant women of reproductive age were involved in the study and they served as control. Estimation of serum zinc was done using Bio E lab fully automated Chemistry Analyzer As.280 while estimation of RBC parameters was done using Mindray Autohaematology Analyzer BC.2800 model. Results obtained were analyzed using t-test and Pearson correlation and values were considered significant at p<0.05 and non-significant at p>0.05.The result shows a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the mean values of zinc (163.8 ± 58.21 mg/dl) in pregnant when compared with the mean values of zinc (226.2 ± 98.99 mg/dl) in non-pregnant women. Also results showed a positive correlation (p<0.05) between zinc and (Hb) (r = 0.414; P = 0.000), and (PCV) (r = 0.393; P = 0.000), and also a negative correlation with (MCHC) (r = -0.236; P = 0.018).The result of this study has shown that pregnancy could be associated with zinc deficiency which could be as a result of mothers increasing requirement for zinc or less intake of zinc.