@article{
author = "Jagodić, Jovana and Pavlović, Slađan Z. and Borković-Mitić, Slavica and Perović, Milan and Miković, Željko and Đurđić, Slađana Z. and Manojlović, Dragan D. and Stojsavljević, Aleksandar",
year = "2022",
abstract = "With the ever-growing concern for human health and wellbeing, the prenatal period ofdevelopment requires special attention since fetuses can be exposed to various metals through themother. Therefore, this study explored the status of selected toxic (Pb, Cd, Ni, As, Pt, Ce, Rb, Sr, U)and essential trace metals (Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Se) in the umbilical cord (UC) sera, maternal sera, andplacental tissue samples of 92 healthy women with normal pregnancies. A further aim focuses on thepotential transplacental transfer of these trace metals. Based on the obtained levels of investigatedelements in clinical samples, it was observed that all of the trace metals cross the placental barrierand reach the fetus. Furthermore, statistical analysis revealed significant differences in levels oftoxic Ni, As, Cd, U, Sr, Rb, and essential Mn, Cu, and Zn between all three types of analyzed clinicalsamples. Correlation analysis highlighted As to be an element with levels that differed significantlybetween all tested samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to enhance these findings.PCA demonstrated that Cd, Mn, Zn, Rb, Ce, U, and Sr were the most influential trace metals indistinguishing placenta from maternal and UC serum samples. As, Co, and Cu were responsible forthe clustering of maternal serum samples, and PCA demonstrated that the Pt level in UC sera wasresponsible for the clustering of these samples. Overall, the findings of this study could contribute toa better understanding of transplacental transfer of these trace metals, and shed a light on overalllevels of metal exposure in the population of healthy pregnant women and their fetuses.",
publisher = "MDPI",
journal = "International Journal of Molecular Sciences",
title = "Examination of Trace Metals and Their Potential Transplacental Transfer in Pregnancy",
volume = "23",
number = "15",
pages = "8078",
doi = "10.3390/ijms23158078"
}