Concentrations of unmetabolized folic acid and primary folate forms in pregnant women at delivery and in umbilical cord blood.

Background: The importance of unmetabolized folic acid in maternal and fetal blood is not known.

Objective: We investigated total folate, tetrahydrofolate (THF), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), formyl-THF, 5,10-methenylTHF, and folic acid concentrations in women and in umbilical cord blood at delivery.

Design: The study included 87 pregnant women and 29 cord blood samples, including 24 mother-infant pairs.

The cobalamin-binding proteins transcobalamin and haptocorrin in maternal and cord blood sera at birth.

Background: Two proteins carry vitamin B12 in plasma. Transcobalamin (TC) carries approximately 25% of total plasma vitamin B12 and is 6% to 20% saturated with cobalamin. Haptocorrin (HC) binds approximately 80% of total cobalamin and is largely saturated with cobalamin.

Biochemical indexes of the B vitamins in cord serum are predicted by maternal B vitamin status.

Background: The concentration of total homocysteine (tHcy) is higher in newborns than in older children. Vitamin B-12 is the major determinant of tHcy in newborns. Maternal status of folate, vitamin B-12, and vitamin B-6 during pregnancy may affect the biochemical markers of these micronutrients in newborns.

Serum inhibin A, inhibin B, pro-alphaC, and activin A levels in women with idiopathic premature ovarian failure.

Serum inhibin A, inhibin B, pro-alphaC, and activin A levels in 30 women with idiopathic premature ovarian failure (POF), 30 postmenopausal women, and 30 age-matched fertile women were determined. Women with POF showed low levels of inhibin A and inhibin B, but not of activin A, whereas the levels of pro-alphaC were significantly higher than in postmenopausal women. Thus, the circulating level of pro-alphaC could be a marker for assessing residual ovarian function in women with POF.