title: Homocysteine and oxidative stress in Egyptian children with Down syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin B12, trace element levels and oxidant/antioxidant status in Down syndrome (DS) mothers and children.
  
  
  METHODS
  42 mothers with previous history of bearing DS baby with karyotypically confirmed full trisomy 21 were included. 48 healthy mothers with their healthy children were considered as control. Serum B12, folic acid, total homocysteine (tHcy), vitamins E and C, TBARS and trace elements were estimated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DS mothers showed higher levels of tHCy, lower levels of folic acid and vitamin B12 than controls. tHCy and folic acid concentrations were significantly decreased, while vitamin B12 exhibited a slight decrease in DS children versus control. Vitamins E and C, zinc and copper levels were markedly reduced in DS mothers. By contrast, TBARS showed significant elevation in them. Furthermore, DS children had severe reduction of vitamin C and zinc levels relative to healthy children. However, vitamin E showed slight reduction and TBARS displayed a slight rise in DS children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Abnormal folic acid-homocysteine metabolism is a potent marker to identify women at risk for having DS child and it also exposes them to oxidant/antioxidant imbalance.
authors.affiliation: Research on Children with Special Needs Dept., National Research Centre, Egypt.
authors.forename: Nagwa A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Meguid
authors.forename: Ahmed A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Dardir
authors.forename: Eman M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: El-Sayed
authors.forename: Hanaa H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Adel F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Hashish
authors.forename: Afaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ezzat
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003300:Copper / Q000097:blood; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D024505:Tocopherols / Q000097:blood; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D006710:Homocysteine; D003300:Copper; D005492:Folic Acid; D015032:Zinc; D001205:Ascorbic Acid; D024505:Tocopherols