Higher manganese levels in early pregnancy linked to lower preeclampsia
risk
Study suggests the possibility that the trace mineral manganese may
protect women from preeclampsia

Date:
July 7, 2020
Source:
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Summary:
An analysis of data from more than 1,300 women followed
prospectively through pregnancy found that women with lower levels
of the essential mineral manganese in early pregnancy were more
likely to develop the serious high blood pressure syndrome called
preeclampsia in late pregnancy.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
An analysis of data from more than 1,300 women followed prospectively
through pregnancy found that women with lower levels of the essential
mineral manganese in early pregnancy were more likely to develop
the serious high blood pressure syndrome called preeclampsia in late
pregnancy, according to a new study led by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.


==========================================================================
The study, published online in the journal Epidemiology, suggests the possibility that boosting manganese levels in women before and during
pregnancy could potentially reduce preeclampsia risk.

Preeclampsia usually occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy and affects
more than 100,000 women in the U.S. each year and an estimated 2 to
8 percent of pregnancies worldwide -- and is trending towards higher
rates. It features high blood pressure and associated organ damage,
for example to the kidneys, and if untreated preeclampsia can lead to
fatal complications such as stroke for mothers and/or premature birth
for offspring. Risk factors include obesity, diabetes, and a family
history of preeclampsia, but its root biological causes are unknown.

The new paper is thought to be the first to link preeclampsia to
lower manganese levels in early pregnancy, long before preeclampsia
appears. Prior epidemiological studies have found that women with
preeclampsia tend to have lower manganese levels compared to women
who don't have preeclampsia. This earlier research did not establish
whether the variation in manganese levels preceded the development
of preeclampsia.

"If our findings are confirmed by other prospective pre-birth cohorts,
then this association between low manganese and preeclampsia should be
examined experimentally, first in mice and then in humans," says study
senior author Noel Mueller, PhD, assistant professor in the Department
of Epidemiology at the Bloomberg School.

"These new findings are especially relevant, considering that preeclampsia rates are increasing and we still lack any good strategy for preventing
it," says study first author Tiange Liu, MHS, a research data analyst
at the Bloomberg School.



========================================================================== Mueller, Liu, and colleagues previously found, in a study published in
2019, that in a sample of more than 1,000 women from the Boston Birth
Cohort, levels of manganese in red blood cells, as measured shortly
after delivery, tended to be lower in women who had had preeclampsia.

For their new analysis, the researchers looked at data from another Massachusetts-based study called Project Viva, which was conducted in
1999- 2002. The Project Viva dataset included preeclampsia outcomes
and also levels of manganese in blood drawn in the first trimester of pregnancy. If preeclampsia in these cases tended to be preceded by low manganese levels months earlier, that would be an even stronger hint
that low manganese levels can be a causative factor for this condition.

The sample included 1,312 women, of whom 48 (3.7 percent) developed preeclampsia.

The researchers in their analysis found that higher manganese levels in
the first trimester were associated with a lower risk of preeclampsia
later in the pregnancy, depending on the dose. This suggests that
incrementally more manganese would bring incrementally less risk. The researchers divided the women into three equally sized groups according to their measured manganese levels -- low, medium, and high -- and found that those in the high-manganese group had just half the risk of preeclampsia, compared to those in the low- manganese group.

The study was observational and did not establish a causal relationship
between higher manganese levels and lower preeclampsia risk. The findings suggest that further studies that could establish a causal relationship, including of high- manganese diets, might soon be advisable.

Many common foods such as mussels, brown rice, sweet potatoes, pine nuts,
and spinach are relatively rich in manganese.

Manganese has multiple biological roles in human cells -- in
enzyme complexes, for example, that help protect cells from harmful oxygen-containing molecules.

But how it would ward off preeclampsia is so far unclear. Studying
cellular mechanisms during pregnancy would help illuminate how differences
in manganese levels could account for changes in preeclampsia risk,
the researchers say.

Funding was provided in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute (K01HL141589).


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Johns_Hopkins_University_Bloomberg_School_of_Public Health. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Tiange Liu, Marie-France Hivert, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, Mohammad L.

Rahman, Emily Oken, Andres Cardenas, Noel T. Mueller. Prospective
Association Between Manganese in Early Pregnancy and the Risk
of Preeclampsia. Epidemiology, 2020; Publish Ahead of Print DOI:
10.1097/ EDE.0000000000001227 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200707113245.htm

--- up 24 weeks, 2 hours, 39 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)