Pregnancy Outcome of Mothers With Defective Oral Zinc Tolerance Test Nejat Akar* Department of Pediatrics, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey Pregnancy outcome of four previously reported women with impaired zinc absorption was determined. These women were supplemented with zinc sulphate for 6 months. Their plasma Zn levels prior to conception were within normal levels. Of the four deliveries, all newborns were normal; only one had closed spina bifida. Our data are further evidence for a possible role of zinc metabolism, at least in some mothers with previous neural tube defects (NTD) babies. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 10:153–154, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key words: zinc; neural tube defects; acrodermatitis enteropathica PREGNANCY OUTCOME OF THE MOTHERS WITH DEFECTIVE ORAL ZINC TOLERANCE TEST Our recent report [1] concerning maternal plasma zinc levels after the oral zinc tolerance test in pregnancies associated with neural tube defects (NTD) in Turkey revealed that some of the affected women have defective zinc absorption due to chronic zinc deficiency, which returned to normal after zinc supplementation. The aim in this study was to determine the pregnancy outcome of four previously women who had impaired zinc absorption with normal intestinal biopsies. These were supple- mented with ZnSO 4 , 7H 2 O, 2 mg/kg/day for 6 months and after cessation of zinc supplementation repeated OZTT returned to normal. Their plasma zinc levels prior to conception were within normal levels. Their offspring were controlled at birth and at the 2 years of age. Data concerning these women and their offspring are shown in Table I. Of the four deliveries after zinc supplementation, all newborns were physically normal. Only one had closed spina bifida. In general, the reasons for chronic zinc deficiency in humans are low dietary zinc, high urinary zinc excretion, low zinc absorption, and hereditary defects in zinc me- tabolism. In a genetic zinc deficiency disorder, acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE), there is severe intestinal mucosal atrophy, which can be reversed by effective oral zinc supplementation. In seven pregnancies of these AE patients, there was one sponta- neous abortion and two major congenital malformations [2]. Conversely, the outcome was good when an AE patient was given supplemental Zn throughout her pregnancy [3]. *Correspondence to: Nejat Akar, M.D., Yargic ¸ Sok 11/4, 06590 Cebeci/Ankara, Turkey. Received 12 February 1997; Accepted 28 February 1997 The Journal of Trace Elements in Experimental Medicine 10:153–154 (1997) © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc. PROD #310