Comparative Study of Serum Zinc, Copper, Manganese, and Iron in Preeclamptic Pregnant Women Md. Shahid Sarwar & Salma Ahmed & Mohd. Shahid Ullah & Humayun Kabir & G. K. M. Mustafizur Rahman & Abul Hasnat & Mohammad Safiqul Islam Received: 6 April 2013 / Accepted: 29 May 2013 / Published online: 9 June 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract Preeclampsia complicates 2–8 % of all pregnan- cies and it is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and pre-term delivery in the world. Unfortunately, there is scarcity of document discussing the circulating level of sev- eral essential trace elements in preeclampsia patients in Ban- gladesh. The present study was designed to evaluate the serum concentration of four trace elements, namely zinc, copper, manganese, and iron, in preeclamptic pregnant wom- en. The study was conducted as a case–control study with 50 preeclamptic pregnant women as cases and 58 normotensive pregnant women as controls. Obstetric, anthropometric, and clinical data were collected at routine obstetric visits. Serum trace elements were determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Independent sample t test and Pearson’ s cor- relation test were done for the statistical analysis using the statistical software package SPSS, version 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). We observed significant differences for gesta- tional age, body mass index, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure between patient and control groups (p < 0.05). Anal- ysis of serum trace elements explored significantly lower level of all the four elements in preeclampsia patients in comparison to the control group ( p <0.05). Pearson’s correlation analysis explored that the correlation between serum level of different trace elements was statistically in- significant (p > 0.05) except the correlation between zinc and iron in preeclampsia patients (p <0.05). Establishment of inter-element relationship strongly supports that there was a disturbance in the element homeostasis in patient with pre- eclampsia. In conclusion, our study suggests that preeclamp- sia patients have considerably lower level of serum zinc, copper, manganese, and iron compared to the healthy preg- nant women. Keywords Preeclampsia . Pregnant women . Hypertension . Trace elements . Inter-element relationship Introduction Preeclampsia (PE), also known as toxemia or pregnancy- induced hypertension is a human pregnancy-specific disor- der which can be defined as the new onset of hypertension and significant proteinuria in a previously normotensive women on or after the 20th week of gestation with or without pathological edema [1, 2]. Hypertension in preeclampsia is characterized by a systolic blood pressure of ≥140 mmHg and diastolic pressure of ≥90 mmHg, at least on two mea- surements within 6 h or more [3, 4]. This disorder compli- cates 2–8 % of all pregnancies and it is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and preterm delivery through- out the world [5]. However, the incidence of preeclampsia has fallen in developed countries due to the improved antenatal care, but its incidence is still high in the developing countries [6]. Preeclampsia and eclampsia cause about 16 % of maternal deaths in Bangladesh [7]. Abortion or delivery is the only cure for preeclampsia. The obstetrician must focus on minimizing maternal risk while maximizing fetal maturity. As elevated level of blood pressure is the major indicator for the severity of M. S. Sarwar : M. S. Islam (*) Department of Pharmacy, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Sonapur, Noakhali 3814, Bangladesh e-mail: research_safiq@yahoo.com S. Ahmed : M. S. Ullah Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Noakhali Medical College, Maijdee, Noakhali, Bangladesh H. Kabir : G. K. M. M. Rahman Department of Soil Science, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Salna, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh A. Hasnat Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh Biol Trace Elem Res (2013) 154:14–20 DOI 10.1007/s12011-013-9721-9