Hair manganese concentrations in newborns and their mothers.

The study was designed to investigate the manganese (Mn) status of mothers and their offspring at delivery. Hair Mn concentrations in 31 full-term, 18 preterm and 12 newborn infants with congenital malformations and their mothers were determined by the flameless atomic absorption technique. Both in infants with congenital malformations and their mothers, hair Mn levels were significantly lower than the full-term and preterm infant-mother pairs. With the exception of mothers of infants with congenital malformations, hair Mn concentrations in mothers were significantly higher as compared with their infants. Low hair Mn concentrations of infants with congenital malformations and their mothers may possibly reflect a state of Mn deficiency in these women. These results imply that 1) Mn deficiency may play a role as one potential factor in intrauterine malformations, 2) Mn is supplied to the fetus by a homeostatic mechanism which is mainly dependent on the Mn status of the mother, 3) prenatal Mn analysis in maternal hair may prove to be a reliable indicator for the risk of intrauterine malformations.