Life Science Journal 2012;9(4) http://www.lifesciencesite.com http://www.lifesciencesite.com lifesciencej@gmail.com 485 Comparison of serum calcium, total protein and uric acid levels between hypertensive and healthy pregnant women in an Iranian population Azin Alavi 1 , Keramat allah Jahanshahi 1 , Samie Karimia 1 , Nasim Arabzadea 1 , Soghra Fallahi 2 1. Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Shariati hospital, Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Hormozgan University of medical sciences, Bandarabbas, Iran 2. MS, Hormozgan Fertility & Infertility Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandarabbas, Iran Fallahi_leila@yahoo.com Abstract: The objective of this study was to compare serum calcium, total protein, and uric acid levels between hypertensive and healthy pregnant women. In this cross-sectional study, 100 healthy and 48 hypertensive pregnant women with singleton pregnancy who were at ≥ 28 weeks of gestation were included and serum calcium, total protein, and uric acid levels were compared between these two groups. Hypertensive group consisted of 28 subjects with mild preeclampsia, 17 with severe preeclampsia. Mean (±SD) serum calcium level was 7.88 (±0.94) mg/dl (range, 6.94-8.82) in hypertensive and 8.28 (±0.77) mg/dl (range, 7.51-9.05) in control group (P = 0.01). Mean (±SD) serum total protein level was 6.023 (±0.91) gr (range, 5.32-7.14) in hypertensive and 6.13±0.77 (5.36-6.9) in control group (P > 0.05). Mean (±SD) level of serum uric acid was 5.32 (±1.41) mg/dl (range, 3.91-6.73) in hypertensive and 4.55 (±1.14) mg/dl (range, 3.41-5.09) in control group (P = 0.001). Mean serum Ca level was significantly lower in hypertensive pregnant women in comparison with healthy ones. Considering this factor in prenatal care is important. [Azin Alavi, Keramat allah Jahanshahi, Samie Karimia, Nasim Arabzadea, Soghra Fallahi. Comparison of serum calcium, total protein and uric acid levels between hypertensive and healthy pregnant women in an Iranian population. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):485-488] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com . 73 Keywords: Calcium; Uric acid; Pregnancy; Hypertensive disorder 1. Introduction Hypertensive disorders in pregnant women are one of the major factors that cause high risk pregnancy and fetal and maternal morbidity. These disorders are most seen in primiparas and are reported in 10% of pregnancies. Early diagnosis of these disorders is a way of reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity/mortality (1-8). Epidemiological evidence suggests changes in the metabolism of calcium (Ca) as a responsible factor in the path physiology of preeclampsia. Hence, decreased in Ca intake may result in progression of preeclampsia to eclampsia (5, 6, 9). There have been efforts to recognize a useful laboratory test to predict prognosis of hypertensive women in pregnancy. In a meta-analysis by Thangaratinam et al. on the level of uric acid during pregnancy, it was concluded that this factor is not an accurate predisposing factor. This finding agrees with the data reported by Cnossen et al. (10, 11). In another study, it was noted that severe preeclampsia and eclampsia were accompanied by decreased levels of serum Ca and total protein and on the other hand increased level of serum phosphorus (5). Likewise, lower serum Ca and higher uric acid levels were reported in pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) compared to normotensive women (6). A significant correlation between serum Ca and hypertension has been shown in PIH (7). It has been reported that patients with high risk pregnancies (e. g., risk of progressive hypertension and those with low amounts of dietary Ca) can benefit from Ca supplementation (8). Regarding the aforementioned data we decided to measure the serum levels of Ca, total protein, and uric acid in a sample of hypertensive women in pregnancy. 2. Material and Methods This cross-sectional study was done at Shariati Hospital, Bandar-Abbas, southern of Iran. One-hundred healthy pregnant women were entered into the study and were compared to 48 hypertensive pregnant women. All subjects were at 28 weeks of gestation or more at the time of entry and the subjects of the two groups were matched regarding age and parity and BMI. All cases had singleton pregnancy. Exclusion criteria were overt and/or gestational diabetes mellitus, nephropathy, glumerolopathy, and history of hypocalcaemia. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure (BP) over 140/90 mmHg which was measured in two separate occasions six hours apart. Hypertensive women were categorized as following. Preeclampsia is defined as blood pressure (BP) of at least 140/90 mmHg after 20th week of gestation accompanied by proteinuria of at least 300 mg per 24 hours in previously normotensive women. The patients with