{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,11]],"date-time":"2025-09-11T17:52:07Z","timestamp":1757613127278,"version":"3.44.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,4]],"date-time":"2025-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756944000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Mumo Health","award":["We thank Mumo Health for their generous support, which contributed to the execution of this study. The funders were involved in the preparation of study design and preparation of the manuscript."],"award-info":[{"award-number":["We thank Mumo Health for their generous support, which contributed to the execution of this study. The funders were involved in the preparation of study design and preparation of the manuscript."]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>To assess the dynamics in blood concentrations of vitamins (A, B6, B12, D, E,), trace elements such as selenium, magnesium, zinc, and iron (transferrin), and metabolite homocysteine during pregnancy and postpartum.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Cross-sectional, national cohort study conducted between January and June 2024.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Slovakia.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Population<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Pregnant and postpartum women.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>From venous blood and capillary dry blood spot micronutrients were analysed using standard biochemical and biophysical methods.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec006\">\n<jats:title>Main outcome measures<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Group differences in blood micronutrient levels across pregnancy and postpartum.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec007\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Our findings reveal significant differences in maternal micronutrient levels across pregnancy and postpartum. While some nutrients, including vitamin D and folate, remained relatively stable, others such as vitamin A, B12, iron and zinc were observed at lower levels, and vitamin E at higher levels during pregnancy. Vitamin E levels in the 3<jats:sup>rd<\/jats:sup> trimester frequently exceeded reference values for the general adult population, whereas zinc levels were significantly lower postpartum. We observed high prevalence of vitamin B12 and iron deficiencies, as indicated by transferrin saturation, particularly in the 3<jats:sup>rd<\/jats:sup> trimester. Vitamin D deficiency was prevalent throughout pregnancy and postpartum. Finally, our analysis demonstrated that dried blood spot (DBS) technology provides comparable results to venous blood analysis for measuring vitamin A, D and homocysteine levels.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0331125","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,4]],"date-time":"2025-09-04T17:59:42Z","timestamp":1757008782000},"page":"e0331125","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Micronutrient dynamics and deficiency risk across pregnancy and postpartum in a Slovak cohort"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Alexandra","family":"Kristufkova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3669-3825","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Neha","family":"Basheer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Katarina","family":"Koprdova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matus","family":"Lieskovsky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michal","family":"Fresser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Norbert","family":"Zilka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,4]]},"reference":[{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0331125.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0043868","article-title":"High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women: a national cross-sectional survey","volume":"7","author":"S Vandevijvere","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0331125.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118","DOI":"10.1111\/nure.12003","article-title":"A systematic review and meta-analysis of micronutrient intakes during pregnancy in developed countries","volume":"71","author":"ML Blumfield","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nutr Rev"},{"key":"pone.0331125.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.117.156000","article-title":"Iron status in pregnant women and women of reproductive age in Europe","volume":"106","author":"N Milman","year":"2017","journal-title":"Am J Clin Nutr"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0331125.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.1017\/S0007114518001319","article-title":"Maternal vitamin D concentrations are associated with faster childhood reaction time and response speed, but not with motor fluency and flexibility, at the age of 5-6 years: the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD) Study","volume":"120","author":"EM Brouwer-Brolsma","year":"2018","journal-title":"Br J Nutr"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0331125.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3390\/nu15020339","article-title":"Longitudinal assessment of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels during pregnancy and postpartum-are the current recommendations for supplementation sufficient?","volume":"15","author":"P Palmrich","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"issue":"15","key":"pone.0331125.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3493","DOI":"10.3390\/nu15153493","article-title":"Vitamin D Intake and Serum Levels in Pregnant and Postpartum Women","volume":"15","author":"L Meija","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0331125.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1004260","article-title":"Maternal B-vitamin and vitamin D status before, during, and after pregnancy and the influence of supplementation preconception and during pregnancy: Prespecified secondary analysis of the NiPPeR double-blind randomized controlled trial","volume":"20","author":"KM Godfrey","year":"2023","journal-title":"PLoS Med"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0331125.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"647","DOI":"10.1111\/mcn.12210","article-title":"Global summary of maternal and newborn vitamin D status - 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