The assessment of maternal and umbilical cord homocysteine levels in obese pregnant women

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the maternal plasma and umbilical cord blood homocysteine levels in obese and nonobese pregnant women. Materials and Methods: One hundred-ten term pregnant women, who completed their 37th gestational weeks and were not in active labor, were enrolled in the study. While 41 out of them were obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 ), 69 were non-obese (BMI 2 ). The maternal plasma and umbilical cord homocysteine levels and umbilical cord pH values were compared between the groups. The statistical analyses were performed using t-test, Mann Whitney test, and Chi-square test. A p Results: The mean of age was higher in obese group in borderline significance (26.8 ±5.4 vs. 28.8 ±5.1, p = 0.049). The mean of gestational weeks, birthweight, the mode of delivery, and umbilical cord pH values were similar between the groups (p > 0.05). The maternal plasma homocysteine levels [median (interquartile range); 7.6 (4.1) vs. 7.1 (4.9)] and umbilical cord homocysteine values were not statistically different [8.6 (4.2) vs. 8.8 (4.5)] between the groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The maternal and umbilical cord blood homocysteine levels are not different in obese and non-obese pregnant women.