title: An investigation of the levels of vitamins A, D, and E in the serum of Chinese pregnant women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vitamins A, D (Vitamin D2 and vitamin D3) and E, play an important role during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sera were collected from 1056 normal pregnant women, who were between 18 and 40 years old, at seven different hospitals in northeastern China. The levels of Vitamin A and E in the sera samples were detected using HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography), and the level of vitamin D was measured by LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean levels of vitamin A, D and E in the 1056 sera samples were 0.39 mg/L (0.38-0.39), 20.44 μg/L (19.86-21.08) and 12.96 mg/L (12.70-13.25), respectively. The levels of vitamin A, D, and E deficiency were 17.05%, 0.19%, and 56.44%, respectively. The levels of vitamin A, D, and E of those between age 21 and 31 among the 1056 pregnant women were similar. The correlation of vitamin E and D was significant at the .01 level (two-tailed), and the correlation of vitamin A and age was significant at the .05 level (2-tailed).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to our finding, the levels of vitamin A, D, and E in the sera of pregnant women in northeastern China were affected by where they live and their age. Vitamin D deficiency was very serious, vitamin A deficiency was common, while vitamin E seems to be sufficient.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Technology, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Juan
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Biology and Food Engineering, Jinlin Teachers Institute of Engineering and Technology, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Zhan-Dong
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jinlin University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Cui-Ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: GeneScience Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (GenSci), Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Technology, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Hua
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9086-0183
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood*; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A; D014807:Vitamin D; D014810:Vitamin E
keywords: northeast of China; pregnant women; vitamin A; vitamin D; vitamin E