Objective: Maternal smoking results in an increase in the incidence of complications such as spontaneous abortion, placental abruption, preterm delivery, intrauterine growth restriction, and stillbirth. There are few studies in the literature about smoking-related oxidative stress in pregnant women and this relationship is not clear. The aim of our study was to determine the relationship between oxidative stress and smoking in pregnancy by measuring oxidative stress indicators such as malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl and total antioxidant status in cord blood and to raise awareness about the public health measures that can be taken in this regard.

Methods: A total of 56 pregnant women (24 pregnant smokers and 32 pregnant non-smokers) were included in the study. Pregnant women were divided into two groups as smokers (n=24) and non-smokers (n=32). Then, smokers were divided into 3 groups according to their smoking frequency. Malondialdehyde, protein carbonyl and total antioxidant status levels in cord blood were compared between these groups.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of malondialdehyde, protein carbonyl levels and total antioxidant capacity (p>0.05). In addition, no statistically significant difference was found between smoking subgroups (p>0.05).
Discussion: The potential of smoking to produce oxidative stress in the fetus is not clear enough due to the contradictory findings of clinical trials. Our findings make it difficult to establish a relationship between maternal smoking and oxidative stress. The subject should be illuminated by further clinical studies evaluating different oxidants and antioxidant molecules.