Placental alkaline phosphatase activity and its relation to foetal growth and nutrition in appropriate and small for gestational age newborns at term.

The placental alkaline phosphatase (PAP) activity progressively rises as pregnancy advances, possibly, because of its increasing synthesis by placental tissue. The present study examined the relationship between placental alkaline phosphatase activity and the biochemical indices of foetal nutrition (cord blood glucose, albumin) and growth (neonatal birth weight). Placental and umbilical cord blood samples were collected from 56 term deliveries 30 of them were appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and 26 were small for gestational age(SGA) and prepared for placental alkaline phosphatase assay, glucose and albumin estimations using standard procedures. The birth weights of the neonates at term were taken and recorded. Correlation analyses of the data obtained show significant positive relationships between PAP and cord blood glucose, albumin and birth weight in AGA newborn (r2 = 0.86, 0.71, 0.68 p<0.05) and (r2 = 0.69, 0.81, 0.73 p<0.05) in SGA newborn but no significant relationship with gestational age, also there was significant statistical difference between both groups in level of PAP, glucose and albumin.