The Investigation of Zinc-Dependent Enzymes in Pregnant Women and their Correlation to Zinc Deficiency

Abstract

Zinc is present throughout the body in low concentration, but in most tissues. It performs multiple critical functions and must be supplied at adequate levels consistently or deficiency states will result, from mild to severe. Zinc deficiency is insufficient zinc to meet the needs of biological organisms. Due to its essentiality, a lack of this trace element leads to far more severe and widespread problems. Enzymes are large biological molecules responsible for the thousands of chemical inter-conversions that sustain life. Enzymes are usually very specific as to which reactions they catalyze and the substrates that are involved in these reactions. Complementary shape, charge and hydrophilic/ hydrophobic characteristics of enzymes and substrates are responsible for this specificity. Specimens were collected at the University Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology “Queen Geraldine” in Tirana, Albania during a period of time from year 2011 to 2013. We took into consideration 500 cases of pregnant women from first to third trimester of pregnancy. Serum zinc was measured by using Photometry (End-Point) method, whereas zinc enzymes such as Alkaline Phosphatase, Amylase, Gamma-glutamyl Transpeptidase, Lactate Dehydrogenase, Creatine Kinase, Aspartate Amino-Transferase, Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase, Lipase measured with the corresponding methods: Beckman Synchron LX20, Colorimetric ab102523 kit, GenWays GGT kit, nonradioactive colorimetric LDH kit, Max Discovery, Colorimetric kit, Abcam kit and Biovision kit. From 500 cases taken into consideration, 190 pregnant women (38%) had normal zinc values (70 – 120 mcg/dl) 58 pregnant women (11.6%) had zinc levels between 60 – 69.9 mcg/dl, patients which were identified as pregnant women with zinc deficiency, as a consequence of oral contraceptive use; 252 pregnant women (50.4%) with zinc values < 60 mcg/dl, identified as patients with zinc deficiency, a result of malnutrition and also urinary elimination of digestive liquids; 56 pregnant women (11.2%) with zinc values < 30 mcg/dl, identified as patient with definite deficiency as a result of different diseases like acrodermatitis enteropathica ect. According to these results, there was a positive correlation between zinc and enzymes such as ALP, CK and LDH in pregnant women suffering from hypertension, whereas a negative correlation of zinc to enzymes such GGT, AST and GPT in cases with anemia. Zinc prophylactic treatment is important before and during pregnancy. Without a proper nutritional requirement the person falls in the state of zinc deficiency.