Comparative Study of Serum Calcium and Magnesium in Pre-eclamptic Pregnancies in Third Trimester and its Comparison with Healthy Normotensive Nonpregnant and Pregnant Women and to Evaluate their role in Pregnancy-induced Hypertension
Background: Despite numerous studies, the etiology of pre­ eclampsia has not been fully elucidated. The study of serum calcium and serum magnesium is gaining ground in the patho­ physiology of hypertension. Objective: A comparative study of serum calcium and serum magnesium in women with pre­eclamptic pregnancy and its comparison with healthy normotensive nonpregnant women and healthy normotensive pregnant women in third trimester. Materials and methods: Serum calcium and serum magnesium were measured in 52 women with pre­eclampsia in their trimester of pregnancy as patients group, and in 73 healthy normotensive nonpregnant women and 65 healthy normotensive pregnant women as control groups with similar maternal and gestational ages. Pre­eclamptic group was further divided into two subgroups mild (n = 36) and severe pre­eclampsia (n = 16). This is the case­control hospital based study carried in the Department of Biochemistry, MGM Medical College and associated MY Hospital, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Results: There were no significant differences among the three groups in age and body mass index (BMI) (p > 0.05) but significantly higher differences in gestational age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure was observed (p < 0.001). When com parison of serum calcium and serum magnesium between healthy normotensive nonpregnant women (9.87 ± 0.6 mg/dl, 2.60 ± 0.3 mg/dl) and healthy normotensive pregnant women was done, the levels were lower in the healthy normotensive preg nant women (9.34 ± 0.49 mg/dl, 2.36 ± 0.13 mg/dl) with sta tistically higher significant difference (p < 0.001). Lower mean values of serum calcium and serum magnesium were found in pre­eclamptic women (8.82 ± 0.93 mg/dl, 1.74 ± 0.24 mg/dl) than those of healthy normotensive nonpregnant women (9.87 ± 0.6 mg/dl, 2.60 ± 0.3 mg/dl) and healthy normotensive pregnant women (9.34 ± 0.49 mg/dl, 2.36 ± 0.13 mg/dl) in third trimester OriGinal article 1,2Assistant Professor, 3Professor and Head 1,3Department of Biochemistry, MGM Medical College, Indore Madhya Pradesh, India 2Department of Biochemistry, Pacific Institute of Medical Sciences Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Corresponding Author: Vandana Varma, Assistant Professor, Depart­ ment of Biochemistry, MGM Medical College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh India, Phone: 9754986507, e­mail: dravvarma01@rediffmail.com 10.5005/jp-journals-10036-1059 with statistically higher significant differences (p < 0.001). As compare to mild pre­eclamptic pregnant women (9.07 ± 0.8 mg/ dl, 1.77 ± 0.24 mg/dl), the levels of serum calcium and serum magnesium in severe pre­eclamptic pregnant women (8.25 ± 0.97 mg/dl 1.65 ± 0.24 mg/dl) was lower and the difference was significantly higher (p < 0.001). Conclusion: These findings support the hypothesis that hypo calcemia and hypomagnesemia are possible etiologies of pre­eclampsia and levels of calcium may be more important than magnesium.