Association between maternal and umbilical cord serum cobalt concentration during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth: The Ma'anshan birth cohort (MABC) study

Abstract: Cobalt is an essential trace element and has been suggested to be involved in oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. However, researches have paid little attention to the association between serum cobalt levels during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth (PTB, OR 1.61, 95% CI : 1.01, 2.58) and the second trimester of pregnancy (adjusted OR 1.62, 95% CI : 1.03, 2.54). The adjusted OR for PTB was 2.46 (95% CI : 1.34, 4.53) among subjects with low cobalt levels and 2.22 (95% CI : 1.19, 4.15) among subjects with medium cobalt levels in the umbilical cord serum. Our findings demonstrated that the lower levels in maternal and umbilical cord serum cobalt were associated with the increased the risk of PTB.