The Influence of Tobacco Smoke on Protein and Metal Levels in the Serum of Women during Pregnancy

<div><p>Background</p><p>Tobacco smoking by pregnant women has a negative effect on fetal development and increases pregnancy risk by changing the oxidative balance and microelements level. Smoking affects the concentration, structure and function of proteins, potentially leading to various negative effects on pregnancy outcomes.</p><p>Methodology/Principal Findings</p><p>The influence of tobacco smoke on key protein fractions in smoking and non-smoking healthy pregnant women was determined by capillary electrophoresis (CE). Concentrations of the proteins α1-antitrypsin, α1-acid glycoprotein, α2-macroglobulin and transferrin were determined by ELISA tests. Total protein concentration was measured by the Biuret method. Smoking status was established by cotinine levels. Cadmium (Cd) and Zinc (Zn) concentrations were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and the Zn/Cd ratio was calculated based on these numbers. Smoking women had a 3.7 times higher level of Cd than non-smoking women. Zn levels decreased during pregnancy for all women. The Zn/Cd ratio was three times lower in smoking women. The differences between the changes in the protein profile for smoking and non-smoking women were noted. Regarding proteins, α1-antitrypsin and α2-macroglobulin levels were lower in the non-smoking group than in the smoking group and correlated with Cd levels (r = -0.968, p = 0.032 for non-smokers; r = −0.835, p = 0.019 for smokers). Zn/Cd ratios correlated negatively with α1-, α2- and β-globulins.</p><p>Conclusions/Significance</p><p>Exposure to tobacco smoke increases the concentration of Cd in the blood of pregnant women and may lead to an elevated risk of pregnancy disorders. During pregnancy alter concentrations of some proteins. The correlation of Cd with proteins suggests that it is one of the causes of protein aberrations.</p></div

Concentration of serum protein fractions in the blood of women during pregnancy.

<p>Concentration of serum protein fractions in the blood of women during pregnancy.</p

Metals concentration (A—cadmium; B—zinc) and Zn/Cd ratio (C) in smoking and non-smoking women during pregnancy.

<p>^{<b>1, 2,3</b>}<b>significant</b> (p < 0.04) for the Zn in the same group to the other trimester (e.g. ¹S group in the 1^st trimester has higher level of Zn than in the 3^rd trimester). <b>*</b>^<b>-</b><b>*** significant</b> (p < 0.02) for the same parameter in the same trimester for different smoking group (e.g. *S group in the 1^st trimester has higher level of Cd than NS group in the same trimester).</p

Concentration of α1-antitrypsin, α2-macroglobulin, α1-acid glycoprotein and total protein concentration in the serum of women during each trimester of pregnancy.

<p>Concentration of α1-antitrypsin, α2-macroglobulin, α1-acid glycoprotein and total protein concentration in the serum of women during each trimester of pregnancy.</p

Exemplary profiles of the serum proteins of smoking (A) and non-smoking (B) women during pregnancy.

<p>Exemplary profiles of the serum proteins of smoking (A) and non-smoking (B) women during pregnancy.</p

Correlations between the concentrations of total protein, serum proteins, α1-antitrypsin, α1-acid glycoprotein, α2-macroglobulin, transferrin, with the Zn/Cd ratio and cotinine, Cd, and Zn concentrations in pregnant smoking women [n = 10] in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy.

<p>Correlations between the concentrations of total protein, serum proteins, α1-antitrypsin, α1-acid glycoprotein, α2-macroglobulin, transferrin, with the Zn/Cd ratio and cotinine, Cd, and Zn concentrations in pregnant smoking women [n = 10] in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy.</p

Clinical characteristics of and blood metal concentrations in pregnant women.

<p>Clinical characteristics of and blood metal concentrations in pregnant women.</p

Saharan exploitation of plants 8,000 years BP

Sorghum and millets are among the world's most important food crops and, for the inhabitants of the semi-arid tropics, they are the main sources of protein and energy. Little is known about the history of these crops; their domestication is thought to have occurred in the African savannah, but the date and precise location are unknown1,2. Excavations at an early Holocene archaeological site in southernmost Egypt, 100 km west of Abu Simbel, have yielded hundreds of carbonized seeds of sorghum and millets, with consistent radiocarbon dates of 8,000 years before present (BP), thus providing the earliest evidence for the use of these plants. They are morphologically wild, but the lipid fraction of the sorghum grains shows a closer relationship to domesticated than to wild varieties. Whatever their domestic status, the use of these plants 8,000 years ago suggests that the African plant-food complex developed independently of the Levantine wheat and barley complex