Maternal alcohol consumption may influence cord blood ascorbic acid concentration: findings from a study of Brazilian mothers and their newborns.

摘要

Studies that have investigated ascorbic acid (AA) concn. in cord blood have pointed to significant associations with maternal blood AA concn., smoking, age, diet, type of delivery, duration of gestation, fetal distress and birth wt. This study examined the relationship between cord blood AA concn. in newborns and maternal characteristics. A total of 117 Brazilian healthy parturients were included in this cross-sectional study. The concn. of AA in blood were determined by HPLC. Data concerning socioeconomic, demographic, obstetric, nutritional and health characteristics of the parturients, including alcohol consumption and smoking habit, were assessed by a standardized questionnaire. A FFQ was used to investigate the intake of foods rich in vitamin C. Cord blood AA concn. was significantly correlated with per capita income (r 0.26; P = 0.005), maternal blood AA concn. (r 0.48; P < 0.001) and maternal vitamin C-rich food intake score (r 0.36; P < 0.001). The linear regression model including maternal AA concn., alcohol consumption, smoking, parity, vitamin C-rich food intake score and per capita income explained 31.13% of the variation in cord blood AA concn. in newborns. Further experimental studies are recommended to assess the effects of ethanol on placental AA uptake, and epidemiological cohort studies are recommended to evaluate in detail the influence of maternal alcohol consumption on cord blood AA concn.