Effect of maternal smoking on some markers of iron status in umbilical cord blood.

Iron deficiency relatively often observed in pregnant women is assumed to be enhanced by cigarette smoking. The present studies are designed to determine the effect of maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy on iron status of newborns. The levels of ferritin, as well as other iron-markers were determined in placenta tissue and in serum of umbilical cord blood. Placenta tissues and umbilical cord blood from healthy women (n = 30) were divided into smoking and non-smoking groups according to mothers plasma and urine cotinine levels. It is shown that total iron concentration in serum of umbilical cord was similar in both studied groups. In smoking group it was accompanied by higher total iron binding capacity which indicated that functional iron deficiency is possible. Iron storage ferritin in umbilical cord blood was 94 ng/ml and 163 ng/ml in smoking and non-smoking respectively. In placenta tissue mean level of ferritin was 252 micrograms/g in the smoking women whereas in the group of tobacco abstinent it was 320 micrograms/g. Low concentration of ferritin both in placenta and umbilical cord blood indicated that smoking during pregnancy could lead to subclinical iron deficiency in matched maternal-cord pairs.