Elemental analysis of human amniotic fluid and placenta by total-reflection X-ray fluorescence and energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence: child weight and maternal age dependence

This work is an attempt to evaluate the possible influence of the mother's age in trace element concentrations in human amniotic fluid and placenta and whether these concentrations are correlated to the weight of the newborn infants. Total-reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) was used to analyze 16 amniotic fluid samples, and the placenta samples were analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). The whole samples were collected during delivery from healthy mothers and healthy infants and full-term pregnancies. According to the age of the mother, three different groups were considered: 20–25, 25–30 and 30–40 years old. Only two mothers were aged more than 35 years. The weight of the infants ranged from 2.56 to 4.05 kg and three groups were also considered: 2.5–3, 3–3.5 and 3.5–4 kg. The organic matrix of the amniotic fluid samples was removed by treatment with HNO₃ followed by oxygen plasma ashing. Yttrium was used as the internal standard for TXRF analysis. Placenta samples were lyophilized and analyzed by EDXRF without any chemical treatment. Very low levels of Ni and Sr were found in the amniotic fluid samples, and were independent of the age of the mother and weight of the child. Cr, Mn, Se and Pb were at the level of the detection limit. Zn, considered one of the key elements in neonatal health, was not significantly different in the samples analyzed; however, it was weakly related to birth weigh. The concentrations obtained ranged from 0.11 to 0.92 mg/l and 30 to 65 μg/g in amniotic fluid and placenta, respectively. The only two elements which seemed to be significantly correlated with mother's age and newborn weight were Ca and Fe for both types of sample: Ca levels were increased in heavier children and older mothers; however, Fe increased with increasing maternal age, but decreased for heavier babies. The same conclusions were obtained for placenta and amniotic fluid samples. Cu is closely associated with Fe in its function in the organism and has a similar behavior to this element, but not as pronounced.