Serum selenium concentration in maternal and umbilical cord blood. Relation to course and outcome of pregnancy

The present knowledge of the role of selenium in human fetal and neonatal development is sparse. In this study we measured serum selenium concentrations in maternal and umbilical cord blood from 500 Danish mothers at delivery, looking for a relationship between various maternal and fetal complications and selenium values. In mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries serum selenium concentrations were 0.84 +/- 0.19 mumol/l (mean +/- SD), whereas in cord blood from full-term babies born adequate for gestational age and with no malformations serum selenium concentrations were 0.60 +/- 0.11 mumol/l (mean +/- SD). Mothers who received mineral tablets (other than iron preparations) during pregnancy had significantly higher serum selenium values than unsupplemented mothers (0.92 versus 0.70 mumol/l) (p less than 0.001). Infants of mineral-supplemented mothers also had significantly higher serum selenium values than infants of unsupplemented mothers (0.62 versus 0.58 mumol/l) (p less than 0.001). Preterm infants had significantly lower serum selenium concentrations than full term infants (0.54 versus 0.60 mumol/l) (p = 0.01), whereas infants small for gestational age did not differ in serum selenium concentrations from infants adequate for gestational age. Serum selenium concentrations in malformed infants tended to be lower than in normal infants (0.55 versus 0.60 mumol/l) (p = 0.09), but the difference was not statistically significant, probably due to the small number. Serum selenium concentrations in mothers with various complications during pregnancy and delivery did not differ from values in mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries.