What is it about?
This study shows that certain trace elements, particularly those with antioxidant potential such as selenium, maybe low in pregnant women that develop pre-eclampsia. Indeed, even in the fetal compartment, selenium was low. It may be that women with pre-eclampsia excrete more selenium from their kidneys, for reasons currently unknown. The study suggests women with pre-eclampsia may have to consider certain dietary interventions, including being focussed on micronutrients like selenium, but also other minerals.
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Why is it important?
The study highlights for the first time that maternal micronutrient status should have an important role in the health and wellbeing of pregnant women and their developing baby. Alteration to the levels of some antioxidant micronutrients such as selenium may be responsible for some of the manifestations of pre-eclampsia.
Perspectives
The potential benefits of micronutrient supplementation, or strategies focusing on providing nutritional guidance specifically to pregnant women around micronutrients, will be pivotal in helping to ensure optimal health of both mother and baby. This area of research is underappreciated and thus remains an important area for experimental and clinical research in the future.
Professor David S Gardner
University of Nottingham
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Alterations in Antioxidant Micronutrient Concentrations in Placental Tissue, Maternal Blood and Urine and the Fetal Circulation in Pre-eclampsia, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, February 2023, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24043579.
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