The effect of the modes of delivery on the maternal and neonatal dynamic thiol-disulfide homeostasis.

Thiols are organic compounds containing sulfhydryl groups which exert antioxidant effects dynamic thiol-disulfide homeostasis. The shift towards disulfide indicates the presence of oxidative environment. The thiol-disulfide homeostasis has not been studied in different mode of delivery before. To investigate the effects of mode of parturition on the thiol-disulfide homeostasis in mothers and term infants. The participants were grouped according to the mode of their delivery: group vaginal delivery (VD,  = 40) and group cesarean section (C/S,  = 40). Three serum samples were collected: from mothers at the beginning of labor, from the cord blood (CB), and from the infants at the 24th hour after birth. The dynamic thiol-disulfide homeostasis in both groups were compared. The levels of native-thiol and total-thiol in CB were significantly higher in VD group than those with C/S group. The levels of disulfide were higher in infants born by C/S compared with those born by VD. The disulfide-to-native thiol ratio, disulfide-to-total thiol ratio, and native thiol-to-total thiol ratio were similar between two groups. Our results showed that the dynamic thiol-disulfide homeostasis of the neonate was greatly influenced by the way of delivery and supported that vaginally delivered infants have less oxidative stress.