Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 3, 2026
Author Spotlight: Modeling an Aspect of Preeclampsia in Female Mice Using Hypoxic Human Placenta-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles
Published on: January 26, 2024
Association between zinc level and the risk of preeclampsia: a meta-analysis
Qingwen Zhu1, Lingli Zhang1, Xiaobo Chen1
1Department of Prenatal Diagnosis Center, Nantong Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nantong, Jiangsu, 226006, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Epidemiological studies evaluating the association between zinc level and the risk of preeclampsia have produced inconsistent results. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to summarize the evidence for them.
Methods:
Pertinent studies were identified by a search in PubMed and Web of Knowledge up to April 2015. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was performed to combine the results. Random-effect model was used. Publication bias was estimated using Egger's regression asymmetry test.
Results:
Thirteen articles (11 case-control studies and 2 cross-sectional studies) involving 445 preeclampsia cases and 568 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. Our pooled results suggested that preeclampsia patients had a lower zinc level as compared with healthy, pregnant controls (summary SMD = -0.61, 95 % CI = -0.74, -0.48, I (2) = 88.5 %). The association was also significant in Asia (SMD = -0.73, 95 % CI = -0.88, -0.58), but not in Europe. No publication biases were found.
Conclusions:
Our analysis indicated that zinc level in preeclampsia patients was significantly lower than that of healthy, pregnant women, especially among the Asian population.
Related Concept Videos
01:11Testing a Claim about Mean: Known Population SD
Estimating a population mean requires the samples to be distributed normally. The data should be collected from the randomly selected samples having no sampling bias. The sample size needed to be higher than 30, and most importantly, the population standard deviation should be already known.
In most realistic situations, the population standard deviation is often unknown, but in rare circumstances, when it...
01:23Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...