ABSTRACT
Preeclampsia is a disease that is peculiar to pregnancy, It affect women after twenty weeks of gestation and resolve completely after peurperium. In this study we tried to find any association of changes in serum levels of trace and ultra-trace elements manganese, molybdenum, and selenium with the development of pre-eclampsia. The study included 120 women, half of them (60) were diagnosed as preeclamptic in the third trimester while the other sixty were healthy pregnant women (controls) in the last trimester. Measurement of serum levels of these substances was done using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer technique. The results were expressed as mean ± standard error of mean. Statistically significance is defined at a P value < 0.05. Serum Manganese and selenium levels were significantly lower in patients with pre-eclampsia compared to control groups, (7.617 ± 0.293?g/dl vs. 10.847 ± 0.356?g/dl) and (2.546 ± 0.068?g/dl vs. 4.306 ± 0.050?g/dl), (P. value <0.05) respectively. while molybdenum level was not significantly different (2.304 ± 0.173 ?g/dl vs. 2.670 ± 0.172 ?g/dl), (P. value ? 0.05). As conclusion, Deficient levels of manganese and selenium could have a role in the pathogenesis of PE.