Meconium ferritin amounts and birth size of neonates: a pilot study

Ewa Skarżyńska; Artur Jakimiuk; Tadeusz Issat; Krzysztof Krasuski; Barbara Lisowska-Myjak

doi:10.1016/j.advms.2025.05.001

Meconium ferritin amounts and birth size of neonates: a pilot study

Adv Med Sci. 2025 May 9;70(2):237-242. doi: 10.1016/j.advms.2025.05.001. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ewa Skarżyńska¹, Artur Jakimiuk², Tadeusz Issat³, Krzysztof Krasuski⁴, Barbara Lisowska-Myjak⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: ewa.skarzynska@wum.edu.pl.
² Department of Obstetrics, Women's Diseases and Gynecologic Oncology, National Medical Institute of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Warsaw, Poland; Center for Reproductive Health, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.
⁴ Department of Medical Informatics and Telemedicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland; Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacogenomics, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

PMID: 40349924
DOI: 10.1016/j.advms.2025.05.001

Abstract

Purpose: Ferritin amounts that accumulate in the meconium may provide new postnatal insights into intrauterine iron homeostasis and neonatal preparedness for the postnatal period. The most dynamic increases in fetal iron stores and fetal growth occur during the third trimester.

Materials and methods: This study involved 122 neonates born between 36 and 41 weeks of gestation, with birth weights from 2650 g to 4960 g and birth lengths ranging from 50 cm to 60 cm. Ferritin amounts per gram of meconium were determined via ELISA in the first meconium passed after birth.

Results: A significant week-by-week increase in the birth weight and length (p < 0.05) was accompanied by decreasing meconium ferritin amounts (p = 0.021) across the gestational age range of 36-41 weeks. There were negative correlations (p < 0.05) between the systematic decrease in meconium ferritin amounts and the gestational age across the same range (r = -0.18) and between ferritin amounts and the birth weight and length of newborns (r = -0.20 and r = -0.31). Neonates born at 36-37 weeks of gestation had lower birth weight and length, while their meconium ferritin amounts were nearly twice as high as in neonates born at 38-39 weeks or 40-41 weeks (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Systematic decreases in meconium ferritin amounts from 36 to 41 weeks of gestation may suggest a gradual and gestational age-appropriate maturation of the mechanisms responsible for adaptation of the fetus to postnatal life. Determining a cut-off value for meconium ferritin amounts could aid in optimal management of newborns after birth.

Keywords: Birth weight; Ferritin; Gestational age; Meconium.