title: Plasma alpha- and gamma-tocopherol have different pattern during normal human pregnancy.
abstract: Plasma alpha- and gamma-tocopherol were monitored in pregnant women throughout healthy gestational periods and after delivery and were compared with that of non pregnant women. The mean plasma alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol concentrations in non pregnant Saudi women (15.2 +/- 1.3 and 1.8 +/- 0.2 mumol/l respectively) were found within normal range. The maternal plasma alpha-tocopherol level steadily increased reaching maximum level (19.1 +/- 1.6 mumol/l) at late gestation and then gradually decreased after delivery. On the contrary, the optimum level of gamma-tocopherol (2.1 +/- 0.2 mumol/l) was at mid gestation, followed by a progressive decrease until one month after delivery (1.5 +/- 0.1 mumol/l). This study shows that the maternal plasma alpha- and gamma-tocopherol have different profiles that may be attributed to their different responses to the changes in maternal lipids during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Al Senaidy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012016:Reference Values; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D014280:Triglycerides; D014810:Vitamin E; D002784:Cholesterol