Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 6, 2021; 9(28): 8340-8348
Published online Oct 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i28.8340
Pregnancy complications effect on the nickel content in maternal blood, placenta blood and umbilical cord blood during pregnancy
Ai-Ling Ding, Hong Hu, Fan-Ping Xu, Ling-Yan Liu, Juan Peng, Xu-Dong Dong
Ai-Ling Ding, Ling-Yan Liu, Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, China
Ai-Ling Ding, Hong Hu, Fan-Ping Xu, Ling-Yan Liu, Juan Peng, Xu-Dong Dong, The Obstetrical Department, The First People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province, The Affiliated Hospital of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650032, Yunnan Province, China
Hong Hu, Fan-Ping Xu, Medical College, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, China
Author contributions: Ding AL analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Ding AL, Hu H and Dong XD designed the research study; Ding AL, Hu H and Xu FP performed the research; Ding AL, Hu H, Xu FP, Liu LY and Peng J collected the samples; Dong XD contributed project support and technical guidance; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by Yunnan Provincial Health Committee Senior Talent Project, No. L-2018006 and No. H-2018045; International Science and Technology Cooperation Special Key Research and Development Plan, No. 2017IB004; and Academician Expert Workstation of Yunnan Province, No. 202005AF150033.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province (approval number: KHLL-KY030).
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential competing interests were reported by the authors.
Data sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xu-Dong Dong, MD, Director, The Obstetrical Department, The First People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province, The Affiliated Hospital of Kunming University of Science and Technology, No. 157 Jinbi Road, Xishan District, Kunming 650032, China.dxdmail@sohu.com
Received: June 10, 2021
Peer-review started: June 10, 2021
First decision: July 5, 2021
Revised: July 10, 2021
Accepted: August 16, 2021
Article in press: August 16, 2021
Published online: October 6, 2021
Processing time: 110 Days and 8.8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Gestational diabetes mellitus and gestational hypertension disease are common pregnancy complications. In addition to the traditional pathogenic factors, new types of environmental exposure have attracted more and more attention. With the continuous development of emerging technologies, nickel (Ni)-containing products are widely used in production and in life. Ni may accumulate in the human body and has biological toxicity and carcinogenicity. Ni has a more extensive impact on the health of pregnant women and fetuses during gestation.

Research motivation

This study has important reference significance for reducing Ni exposure during pregnancy, improving the quality of the living environment and ensuring the normal development of the fetus.

Research objectives

This study aimed to evaluate Ni exposure in pregnant women in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.

Research methods

Basic information on the 72 pregnant women was collected by questionnaire survey. Maternal blood, placenta blood and cord blood were collected immediately after delivery. The Ni content in paired samples was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Research results

It was found that pregnant women in Kunming, Yunnan Province experienced environmental exposure to Ni, which can be transferred to the fetus through the placental barrier.

Research conclusions

In the maternal-fetal system of women with pregnancy complications, the barrier effect of the placenta against Ni is weakened, thus affecting healthy growth of the fetus in the uterus.

Research perspectives

Further research into the mechanisms, from the perspective of advanced molecular biology, will reveal the key role of nickel in gestational disease, placental barrier and birth outcome.