Impact of maternal zinc status on fetal growth in an Iranian pregnant population

Background. To evaluate the impact of mild to moderate maternal zinc deficiency on birth weight of offsprings in a group of Iranian pregnant population. Materials and Methods. One hundred forty pregnant subjects with no history of medical complications during pregnancy and without any inter-current illness enrolled in the study. Serum zinc concentration, ferritin, hemoglobin, iron, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were measured at the time of delivery. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis used to determine plasma zinc cutoff value for comparison. Results. Of 140 live neonates, 30% were below 2500g. Mean serum zinc concentration was 56.60 ± 17.91μg/dl which indicated mild to moderate zinc deficiency. None of the subjects were anemic. There was an inverse statistically significant relationship between maternal serum zinc concentration and neonatal birth weight. Conclusion. In this group of Iranian pregnant subjects with mild to moderate zinc deficiency, we observed no relationship between low maternal zinc status and low birth weight infants.