THE RELATION BETWEEN FIRST TRIMESTER SCREENING MARKERS AND MATERNAL FOLIC ACID AND VITAMIN B12 LEVELS

Objective: To assess the relation between first trimester screening markers and maternal folic acid and vitamin B12 levels. Material and Method: A retrospective study was conducted with 49 women of any age with a singleton pregnancy between 11-14 weeks of gestation who were offered routine first trimester prenatal screening and whose folic acid and vitamin B12 levels were measured during their first visit for any reason and who gave birth between September 2004 to May 2007 in the university hospital. Any possible correlation between these elements and screening markers were assessed. Pregnancies with male and female fetuses were compared. Results: There were no patients with folic acid deficiency and in only 2 patients vitamin B12 level was low. Only one patient had an increased biochemical risk and all the patients gave birth to healthy babies. No significant correlation was found between assessed parameters when all patients were analyzed; however, when analysis was based on fetal gender it was found that maternal folic acid level was negatively correlated with PAPP-A levels in only pregnant women that gave birth to male fetuses (r: -0.376, p= 0.04). There was no significant difference in pregnancies with male and female fetuses with respect to assessed parameters. Conclusion: There is a significant negative correlation between folic acid and PAPP-A in pregnancies with a male fetus, but not in pregnancies with a female fetus. The underlying mechanism is not clear and further studies are needed.