title: Serum folate levels in normal full-term pregnant Chinese women.
abstract: Serum folate levels were determined by a radio-isotopic assay method and then analysed in 253 normal full-term pregnant women. None of them had received any hematonic during their whole pregnancy period. Their mean age was 27.72 years and the mean pregnancy duration was 39.50 weeks. Mean hemoglobin concentration in these normally pregnant women was 12.54 g%. Mean serum folate was 8.57 ng/ml. In this study, 7.51% (19 out of the 253) of the normally pregnant women had a folate level less than 3 ng/ml, and only 2 of them had clinical anemia (Hb less than 11 g%), and one of them also had serum ferritin less than 12 ng/ml. Thus pure folic acid deficiency anemia in pregnant women may be very rare in Chinese. Neither multiparity, age, nor gravida number played any role in the occurrence of folate deficiency. There would appear to be a slight positive relationship between folate levels and hemoglobin concentration in pregnant Chinese women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yeh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D005494:Folic Acid Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D005492:Folic Acid