Inverse association between maternal serum concentrations of trace elements and risk of spontaneous preterm birth: a nested case–control study in China

Abstract

Few studies have evaluated the joint effect of trace elements on spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB).This study aimed to examine the relationships between the individual or mixed maternal serum concentrations of iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr) and molybdenum (Mo) during pregnancy, and risk of SPTB. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was employed to determine maternal serum concentrations of the six trace elements in 192 cases with SPTB and 282 controls with full-term delivery. Multivariate logistic regression, weighted quantile sum regression (WQSR) and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) were used to evaluate the individual and joint effects of trace elements on SPTB. The median concentrations of Sr and Mo were significantly higher in controls than in SPTB group (P < 0.05). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, compared with the lowest quartile levels of individual trace elements, the third- and fourth-quartile Sr or Mo concentrations were significantly associated with reduced risk of SPTB with adjusted odds ratios (aORs) of 0.432 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.247-0.756), 0.386 (95% CI: 0.213-0.701), 0.512 (95% CI:0.297-0.883), and 0.559 (95% CI: 0.321-0.972), respectively. WQSR revealed the inverse combined effect of the trace elements mixture on SPTB (aOR: 0.368, 95%CI: 0.228-0.593). BKMR analysis confirmed the overall mixture of the trace elements was inversely associated with the risk of SPTB, and the independent effect of Sr and Mo was significant. Our findings suggest that the risk of SPTB decreased with concentrations of the six trace elements, with Sr and Mo being the major contributors.