Maternal Determinants of Cord Blood Immunoglobulin G Levels: a Preliminary Report

Abstract

Background and Objective: Immunoglobulin G (Ig G) is essential for the promotion of growth and protection particularly during neonatal life. Although various aspects of Ig G have been studied, we are unaware of any study relating maternal social factors to neonatal Ig G levels. This study aims at determining the relationship between maternal factors and the cord serum Ig G. Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal cohort study involving administration of questionnaires on women with normal pregnancy confirmed by the obstetrician, Specimens of umbilical blood were obtained at delivery from mother/neonate pair and the serum IgG levels determined on the samples using enzyme linked immunoassay. These levels were correlated with certain maternal factors such as age, vaccination with tetanus during the current pregnancy, illnesses such as malaria fever during pregnancy among others. Exclusion criteria included sepsis, chorioamnionitis and chronic illnesses. Result: Cord blood was obtained from 86 mother/ neonate pairs (47 females and 39 males). The mean + SD serum Ig G was 1297.8mg/ml +995.6. The mean age of the mother was 27+ 3 years, while the gestational age of the neonates was 37.6 weeks + 2.8. The mean cord serum Ig G levels in neonates of mothers 25 years of age were 1611.2 mg/ml and 1183,5mg/ml respectively (p= 0.038). The social classes of the mothers included low 51(59.3percent), middle 21(24.4 percent) and high 14(16.3 percent) with mean cord serum Ig G of 941 mg/ml, 1157.4 mg/ml and 1476.7 mg/ml respectively. Malaria fever in pregnancy apparently ocurred in 31(36 percent), 29 of whom had one to two episodes while the remaining had > episodes. The mean cord serum Ig G levels in neonates of mothers with and without malaria fever were 1526.3mg/ml and 1089.6mg/ml respectively (p= 0.016). The duration was 12hours in 54(63 percent) with mean cord serum IgG of 921mg/ml respectively (p = 0.005). Conversely, there was no correlation with the other variables. Conclusion: There was significant correlation between cord serum lg G levels and malaria fever in pregnancy, maternal age and duration of labour.