Increase in blood manganese induces gestational hypertension during pregnancy.

Objective: Pregnancy hypertension can lead to many pregnancy complications and increases the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality.

Methods: To investigate the effects of blood manganese (Mn) on the development of pregnancy hypertension, 364 healthy women were examined during early pregnancy until delivery.

Results: At the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, concentrations of Mn in maternal blood were significantly higher in the hypertensive pregnant women than in the normotensive women.