| Category | ORIGINAL_ARTICLE |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ahmed Tijani Bawah, Francis A. Osei Kuffour, Michael Asamoah Boateng, Mohammed Mustapha Seini, Paul Amoah, Francis Abeku Ussher, Huseini Alidu |
| Abstract | Background: This paper looks at the low concentration of urea, uric acid and creatinine in pregnant women and argues that the causes may be due to physiological changes in the metabolism of these serum markers of kidney function. During pregnancy, physiological and anatomical changes occur resulting in increased renal workload. As a result of these changes, comparison of plasma levels of these biochemical markers to non-pregnant levels is inappropriate hence this study was aimed at evaluating the changes in the metabolism of these serum markers among pregnant women in the Ho municipality and to compare their reference intervals in both pregnant and non-pregnant women.Methodology: This case - control study involved 90 pregnant women and 90 aged-matched non-pregnant women who served as controls. Five milliliters of venous blood was obtained from each participant from which sera were obtained and concentrations of creatinine, urea and uric acid determined across the trimester intervals, using SELECTRA PRO S chemistry analyzer. Results: Creatinine and urea (p<0.0001) were significantly lower in the cases than the controls and uric acid was also significantly lower in the cases than the control (p<0.0185). Furthermore, uric acid concentration increased from the second to the third trimester, though the increase was not statistically significant.Conclusion: There is progressive decrease in the concentration of urea, creatinine and uric acid during normal pregnancy with a slight increase in the concentration of uric acid during the third trimester. |
| Year | 2018 |
| Month | October |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Published On | 24 Oct 2018 |
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