Comparison of Serum Magnesium and Zinc Levels between Pre-Eclamptic and Normotensive Pregnant Women

Objective: To find the levels of serum magnesium and zinc in pregnant women and to compare their levels in PE and normotensive pregnant women.Methodology: This study was conducted in the outpatient & in-patient departments of the Obstetrics and Gynaecological unit of the Hayatabad medical complex, MTI, Peshawar. Pregnant female were included via non-probability convenient sampling. Informed verbal & written consent was obtained, 5ml venous blood was withdrawn for estimation of serum zinc and serum magnesium levels.Results: A total of 110 patient’s pregnant women [pre -eclamptic =46; normotensive pregnant women=64] were included in the final analysis. Mean age of study participants was 26.41±4.71 years. Obstetric characteristics of the pregnant women revealed that most 84.55% (n=93) of the women were multi-gravida and similarly more than half of the women were multipara. Low serum zinc was noted in pre-eclamptic pregnant women compared to normotensive pregnant women but the difference was statistically insignificant (68.16±20.60 Vs. 74.96±32.23, p=0.385). Similarly, comparable results were noted for serum magnesium level, with mean level of 1.68±0.39 in women in pre-eclamptic group as compared to 1.86±0.34 in normotensive females.Conclusions: Our findings suggested that there was no correlation between PE in pregnant female and the serum levels of zinc and magnesium. Clinical implication of serum zinc and magnesium in PE is questionable. However, more research into the involvement of serum levels of zinc and magnesium in PE is required since they might serve as early indicators of PE.