The Paraoxonase 1 Arylesterase Activity, Total Oxidative Stress, Nitric Oxide and Vitamin C Levels in Maternal Serum, and Their Relation to Birth Weight of Newborn.

AIM: Aim of this study is to find out clinical relevance of estimating PON1 arylesterase activity, total oxidative stress (TOS), nitric oxide (NO), and vitamin C levels in maternal serum for prediction of birth weight of newborn.
METHODS: We have investigated the PON1 arylesterase activity, TOS, NO, vitamin C, total protein, and albumin levels in 56 postnatal clinic patients having newborn weighing <2500 gm (low birth weight) and compared with 56 postnatal clinic patients having newborn weighing >2500 gm. Samples were collected immediately after delivery.
RESULTS: PON1 arylesterase activity levels show significant decrease in cases as compared to controls (93.27 ± 13.76 kU/l vs. 112.77 ± 9.42 kU/l). Nitric oxide (nitrate + nitrite) levels are also found to be significantly decreased in cases with respect to controls (22.89 ± 2.65 umol/l vs. 24.73 ± 3.80 umol/l). Total oxidative stress is significantly increased in cases than in control subjects (23.34 ± 2.64 μmol H2O2 equiv./l vs. ± 21.43 ± 2.47 μmol H2O2 equiv/l). Vitamin C levels are also significantly decreased in cases as compared to controls (1.23 ± 0.25 mg/dl vs. 1.34 ± 0.28 mg/dl). Positive correlation between neonatal birth weight and maternal serum PON1 arylesterase activity (r = 0.682, p < 0.05) while negative correlation is obtained between neonatal birth weight and maternal serum oxidative stress (r = -0.478, p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis is applied for assessing predictive utility which demonstrated a significant association of birth weight with PON1 arylesterase activity (AUC = 0.960, Naglekerke's R (2) = 0.793, p < 0.05).
CONCLUSION: Decreased arylesterase activity and antioxidant vitamin C levels with increased total oxidative stress in maternal serum may be considered as the additional risk factors for the development of low birth weight newborn.