Efficacy of cord blood micronutrients in neonatal growth outcome A cross sectional analytical study

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineIntroduction: newlineMicronutrients are critical components for fetal growth, and their inadequate tissue concentrations significantly affect fetal size. Iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium are among them, and they possess significance for cellular proliferation, replication, and recombination. The birth weight of the baby is one of the growth- determining indicators, which depends mainly on the mother s nutritional status, inheritance pattern, and placental circulation. The undersized fetus results in higher rates of perinatal illness and mortality, a catastrophic delay in cognitive development, and damage to the nervous system in childhood. newlineAim and Objectives: newline1. newlineTo determine the umbilical cord blood micronutrient levels for five trace elements, which include iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium. newline2. newlineTo determine the relationship of blood micronutrient levels with birth weight, length, head circumference, chest circumference, abdominal circumference, and foot length of newborns in southern India. newlineMaterials and Methods: newlineThe study included term and preterm babies above 28 weeks of gestation, born to mothers without risk factors. This included small, appropriate, and large gestational- age babies. Umbilical cord blood samples from 100 newborns were collected, and 2 ml of serum was separated and analyzed for micronutrient levels by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry ( ICP-OES ). newlineResults: newlineThe average umbilical cord blood micronutrient concentrations for iron, zinc, copper, selenium, and manganese were found to be within the ranges of (0.086-5.172 micromol/L), (0.001-1.390 micromol/L), (0.030-1.426 micromol/L), (0.038-2.019 nanomol/L), and (0.007-0.152 nanomol/L), respectively. The link between cord blood micronutrient levels and birth weight was analyzed using Pearson s correlation coefficient. A reduction in birth weight, length, head circumference, and foot length was observed with elevated copper levels. Length had a significant correlation with newlinecopper level (P = 0.018, r = -0.23