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A comparison of maternal calcium and magnesium levels in pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnancies: an observational case–control study

journal contribution
posted on 2014-02-01, 00:00 authored by D Richards, S Lindow, H Carrara, R Knight, Stephen Haswell, Z van der Spuy
Objective : Supplementing pregnant women at high risk of developing pre-eclampsia with calcium may reduce the incidence of the disease. This study examines differences in serum and hair concentrations of calcium and magnesium between women with pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnancies.Design : Observational case–control study.Setting : Two teaching hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa.PopulationWomen with pre-eclamptic (N = 96) or normotensive (N = 96) pregnancies, who delivered a single, live infant.MethodsDemographic and current pregnancy details were retrieved from clinical notes. Each participant completed a dietary questionnaire. Venous blood samples were taken from each participant to assess serum calcium and magnesium concentrations. Hair samples were obtained from all participants and calcium and magnesium levels were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICPOES).Main outcome measureHair and serum calcium and magnesium concentrations were compared between women with pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnancies.ResultsDiet and socio-economic status in the two groups were similar. There was no significant difference in the hair calcium level between women with pre-eclamptic [1241 parts per million (ppm); range, 331–4654 ppm] and normotensive (1146 ppm; range, 480–4136 ppm) pregnancies (P = 0.5). Hair calcium levels in both groups were not affected by HIV infection.ConclusionWoman with pre-eclampsia showed no difference in chronic calcium status relative to normotensive women. This finding does not support the current belief that the mechanism by which calcium supplementation reduces the risk of developing pre-eclampsia is by correcting a nutritional deficiency.

History

Journal

BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology

Volume

121

Pagination

327 - 336

Location

London, Eng.

ISSN

1470-0328

eISSN

1471-0528

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2014, Wiley

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