A Prospective Study on Serum Methylmalonic Acid and Homocysteine in Pregnant Women

Overview

Journal Nutrients

Date 2016 Dec 13

PMID 27941633

Citations 11

Authors

Rihwa Choi

Sunkyu Choi

Yaeji Lim

Yoon Young Cho

Hye Jeong Kim

Sun Wook Kim

Jae Hoon Chung

Soo-Young Oh

Soo-Youn Lee

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate serum methylmalonic acid (MMA) and homocysteine levels and to assess their effects on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. Serum MMA and homocysteine levels in 278 pregnant Korean women, determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in each trimester, were compared with those of previous studies in other ethnic groups. We investigated the association between MMA and homocysteine status with pregnancy and neonatal events: gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, gestational age at delivery, preterm birth, small for gestational age, neonatal birth weight, and congenital abnormalities. The median (range) MMA level was 0.142 (0.063-0.446) µmol/L and homocysteine level was 10.6 (4.4-38.0) µmol/L in pregnant women. MMA levels were significantly higher in the third trimester than during other trimesters ( < 0.05), while homocysteine levels were not. No significant association was observed between MMA or homocysteine levels and any of the maternal or neonatal outcomes examined. Future studies are needed to assess the associations among maternal serum concentrations of MMA and homocysteine, and maternal and neonatal outcomes.

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