Comparison between the serum concentration of alpha-tocopherol in puerperal women assisted in public and private maternities in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

To compare the concentration of serum alpha-tocopherol during the postpartum period in women admitted to public and private hospitals in Natal (RN), Brazil. The study included 209 women in the postpartum period, 96 of them from private hospitals and 113 from public hospitals, studied between 24 and 48 hours postpartum. Inclusion criteria were: mothers aged 12 years or more, without diseases associated with pregnancy, who had given birth to a singleton with no malformations. Clinically decompensated women with multiple fetuses were excluded. A 5 mL blood sample was obtained from each participant under fasting conditions, before the first meal of the day. The concentration of alpha-tocopherol in serum (µg/dL) was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The statistical difference between means was tested by the Student's t-test. The mean concentration of alpha-tocopherol was 1.115.7 µg/dL in puerperae from the public network and 1.355.7 ± 397.6 µg/dL in puerperae from the private network , with a significant difference between groups (p=0.000687). Vitamin E concentration was determined individually and an alpha-tocopherol level <11.6 µmol/L or <499.6 µg/dL was considered to indicate deficiency. Vitamin E deficiency was detected in 5.3% of puerperae from the public network (n=6), whereas no deficiency was detected among women from the private network. However, low concentrations of alpha-tocopherol (11.6 to 16.2 µmol/L or 499.6 to 697.7 µg/dL) was detected in both groups, i.e., in 9.7% of the women from the public network (n=11) and in 4.2% for the women from the private network (n=4). These results highlight that women assisted in the public sector were more vulnerable to developing low concentrations of alpha-tocopherol than women assisted in the private sector.