Antioxidant supplementation in pregnant women with low antioxidant status

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the benefit of antioxidant supplementation in a cohort of women with low antioxidant status and determine the changes in cell-free mRNA.

Material and methods: This study was a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 8-12 weeks' pregnant women who had low antioxidant status treated with either antioxidants or control diets daily until 2 weeks' postpartum. The primary end-point was the risk of pre-eclampsia and the secondary end-point was the changes of angiogenic and anti-oxidant mRNA markers related to the outcome (ClinicalTrial.gov, number NCT01232205).

Results: There were 110 women enrolled in the study, randomly assigned to the supplementation (n = 52) and control group (n = 58). The overall rate of pre-eclampsia was 8.7% (nine subjects). There were significant differences (P = 0.034) between the supplementation and control group in the incidence of pre-eclampsia (2.0% [one case] and 14.5% [eight cases], respectively) and mRNA level of superoxide-dismutase, heme oxygenase-1, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1, endoglin and placental growth factor after supplementation.

Conclusion: Supplementation of women with low antioxidant status with micronutrients containing antioxidants during early gestation might reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia.