Studies of Serum Calcium, Inorganic Phosphate and Magnesium Levels in Lactating Mothers in Owerri

Abstract

This study was aimed at evaluating the serum levels of Calcium, Inorganic phosphate and Magnesium together with the Body Mass Index (BMI) in lactating mothers in Owerri. A total of sixty subjects were recruited. Thirty were lactating subjects while thirty were apparently healthy individuals that served as control subjects. Whole blood (5mls) was collected by venipuncture from the subjects using sterile needles and syringes into clean and sterile plain containers. The samples were immediately centrifuged and separated. The serum samples were stored at -20°C prior to use. All reagents were commercially purchased and the manufacturers’ Standard Operational Procedures were strictly followed. Serum Calcium, Inorganic phosphate and Magnesium levels were analyzed by spectrophotometric method and data was assessed using statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The results were expressed as mean and standard deviation (mean ± SD). Difference in mean values between groups was assessed by student t-test. Result with probability value of P < 0.05 was statistically significant. The mean ± SD values of serum Calcium, Magnesium, Inorganic phosphate and Body Mass Index (9.28 ± 0.53mg/dl, 2.24 ± 0.38mg/dl, 4.18 ± 0.33mg/dl and 25.73 ± 1.60kg/m²) were higher in lactating subjects which was statistically significant (P < 0.05) when compared with the control subjects (8.98 ± 0.50mg/dl, 1.98 ± 0.24mg/dl, 3.34 ± 0.37mg/dl and 24.20 ± 1.35kg/m²). There was progressive decrease between 0 – 3 months, 4 – 6 months and ≥ 7 months with the mean ± SD values of Calcium (9.43 ± 0.55, 9.29 ± 0.52 and 9.12 ± 0.53)mg/dl and Inorganic Phosphate (4.25 ± 0.36, 4.18 ± 0.36 and 4.11 ± 0.27)mg/dl, and non progressive decrease in the mean ± SD values of Magnesium (2.29 ± 0.40, 2.20 ± 0.39 and 2.24 ± 0.38)mg/dl and Body Mass Index (26.30 ± 1.77, 25.30 ± 1.70 and 25.60 ± 1.27)kg/m² which was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The increase found was due to increased bone resorption and the decrease was due to enhanced mechanism for bone mineralization as the hormones concentrations tend to normalize in prolonged lactation.

Life history in primate teeth is revealed by changes in major and minor element concentrations measured via field-emission SEM-EDS analysis

“…Our results suggest that during reproduction (gestation and lactation) Mg is lost by the mother proportionally less than the other elements, while concurrently Mg is received proportionally less than other elements by the infant. This aligns with research on humans showing that serum Mg during reproduction is minimally altered [36][37][38], while serum Ca and P decrease [39]. We also observed a trend in Mg values being (non-significantly) higher in gestation than in lactation, Table 2.…”

Elemental composition of primary lamellar bone differs between parous and nulliparous rhesus macaque females

“…Since the data pre-processing that we performed returns relative percent concentration of each element at each acquisition point across the femoral transects, our results indicate that during reproduction Mg might be lost by the mother proportionally less than the other elements, while concurrently received proportionally less than other elements by the breastfeeding infant. This is in agreement with research on humans showing that serum Mg is minimally altered during reproductive activity [46][47][48], while serum Ca and P decrease during the same time period [44]. Furthermore, in MA024, for which the endosteal-most portion of the transects is of prenatal formation, we observe an even lower concentration of Mg than during the breastfeeding (suckling and weaning) phases (Fig 4).…”

Breast cancer: A review of risk factors and diagnosis

“…The cells of the lobules, which are the collections of milk-producing glands, can also give rise to cancer. [6,7] Lobular carcinoma is the name of this type of cancer. Both ductal and lobular carcinomas can be in situ, which means the cancer is still present in the area where it first appeared and has not spread to adjacent tissues.…”