Background & objectives: Pre-eclampsia, as a idiopathic disease, is one of the most important causes of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Deficient or excessive level of trace elements can be considered as an unfavorable factor in pregnancy.The aim of this study was to evaluate copper status in pre-eclamptic women .

 Methods: 95 pre-eclamptic and 92 healthy pregnant women were enrolled in a case - control study .The sera and 24-hour urine copper of two groups were measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. The data were recorded and analyzed statistically by using t-test, X2, and pearson's correlation .

 Result: Copper concentration of serum and 24-hour urine in pre-eclamptic patients were significantly higher than normotensive ones (p<0.000). Intensity of pre-eclampsia did not correlate with copper concentration in the serum and 24-hour urine .

 Conclusions: The results suggest that the high level of copper in maternal serum and urine is in correlation with pre-eclampsia but pre-eclampsia intensity have not significant effects on copper levels. However, further studies would be helpful for this test to be used as a prognostic method for pre-eclampsia.