Determination of Manganese in Serum Using GFAAS: Serum Reference Values for Manganese in the Adolescent Girls of the DERVAN Cohort.

Current proposed method allows for the determination of manganese in serum sample using aqueous standard calibration technique on Graphite Furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer (GFAAS) using deuterium background correction. This method involves determination of manganese from digested serum samples without the use of matrix modifier. Pyrolysis and atomization temperatures are 1200 °C and 2200 °C respectively. The limit of detection (LoD) and limit of quantitation (LoQ) of the method are 0.0097 ng/ml (0.18 nmol/l) and 0.032 ng/ml (0.58 nmol/l) respectively. Validation of the method was carried out using seronorm trace element level-1 serum standard with excellent agreement between measured value and certified value. Accuracy was demonstrated by the spike and recovery study with analytical recovery between 98.8 and 100.6% in serum. The serum reference value for manganese in adolescent girls of rural Konkan region of India range from 4.7 to 215 nmol/l.

Menarche among rural adolescent girls in Dervan (Data from the KONKAN region of the state of Maharashtra, India).

CONTEXT: Associations between age at menarche and risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are well established in adults. But little is known about these risks in adolescents. AIM: To examine the association between age at menarche and anthropometric indicators, and also examine nutrition among the rural adolescent girls of KONKAN region. SETTING AND DESIGN: We investigated 1,071 school going adolescent girls who underwent holistic education and various clinical investigations as a part of community program. Age at menarche was recorded and anthropometric measurements were performed. Macronutrient intake was estimated by 24 h recall. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: We used trend statistics and logistic regression to examine the association. RESULTS: A total of 813 girls had attained menarche. Mean age at menarche was 13.0 years. When compared with premenarchal girls anthropometric parameters were significantly higher in postmenarchal girls (P < 0.05 for all) and the prevalence of stunting and thinness was lower (P < 0.001 for both). There was a decreasing trend for weight (P < 0.001), BMI (P < 0.001), and waist circumference (P < 0.05) with increasing age of onset of menarche, and increasing trend for stunting and thinness (P < 0.001 for both). More than 65% of the girls were eating below the recommended daily allowance of calories, protein, and fat. Adolescents with late onset of menarche had increased likelihood of stunting (P < 0.01) and thinness (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent girls in the KONKAN region with late menarche are thin and stunted. There is an urgent need to improve nutritional status of adolescent girls from KONKAN as malnutrition can affect the onset of menarche.