Assessment of Biochemical Markers of Iron and Some Haematological Parameters on Blood Donors in Enugu State

Abstract

Iron deficiency is one of the most common of the nutritional deficiencies. The eventual consequence of iron deficiency is iron deficiency anemia; where the body stores of iron have been depleted and the body is unable to maintain level of hemoglobin in the blood. Blood donation leads to a substantial iron loss, as about 0.5mg iron is lost per each milliliter of blood donated. It is evident that haemoglobin level alone is inadequate for detecting blood donors with iron deficiency without anaemia. Studies have also shown that hemoglobin level may not correlate with iron status. The aim of this study, however was to assess the biochemical indices of iron and some haematological parameters amongst donors in Enugu State. Two hundred apparently healthy male blood donors from National blood Transfusion centre Enugu, University of Nigeria Teaching hospital and two private blood banks were used for the study. Forty apparently healthy non-donors were used as controls. Before starting the study, approval of the institutional ethical committee was obtained and informed consent was also obtained from the donors and controls to enable them participate effectively in the study. The donors were divided into 6 groups according to number of previous donations within last 3 years. The age range was between 19-50 years. Results showed that level of Hb, PCV, and iron status parameters were significantly decreased among the regular donors compared to controls. The mean ±2SD in ferritin level showed a significant decrease across the groups (P<0.0001) with 21.46±6.76ng/ml, 16.11±16.06ng/ml, 6.76± 5.54ng/ml for subjects in groups iv, v, and vi in 3yrs respectively compared to 52.67±40.47ng/ml, and 51.20±23.25ng/ml for subjects in group ii and iii in 3yrs. The serum iron concentration was significantly higher with group i (control), group ii and group iii donors: 94.17±27.66µg/ml, 113.8±71.20µg/ml, 83.71±10.84µg/ml respectively compared to donors in groups iv, v, and vi: 72.73± 10.98µg/ml, 70.00± 11.62µg/ml, 65.83± 15.57µg/ml respectively . The TIBC increased significantly (P<0.000) across the groups with mean values: 371.2±76.14µg/ml, 455.4±11.9µg/ml and 481.0± 98.62µg/ml for donors in group iv, v and group vi respectively in 3yrs. The mean ± 2SD for transferrin saturation showed a significant decrease (P<0.0001) with donors in group iv, v and vi having 20.50± 5.66%, 23.60± 10.74%, and 20.64± 8.22% respectively compared to group i(control), group ii and iii donors: 31.38± 10.47%, 33.47±15.4%, 34.47± 12.8% respectively. The Hb and PCV of the subjects were significantly reduced (P<0.0001) with the donors in group iv, v and vi having 14.73g/dl± 3.28, 13.64g/dl±0.76, 13.78g/dl± 0.63 respectively in 3yrs compared to group i(control), group ii and group iii donors. There was no significant difference in the MCHC, WBC Total, differentials and across the groups. Also there was no significant difference in the iron and haematological parameters of group i(controls) compared to the donors in group ii and group iii in 3 years. The study observed that Haemoglobin, Packed cell volume, Serum iron, Serum ferritin, Transferrin saturation, TIBC, were significantly affected in the regular blood donors especially those who have had more than six donations in 3 years when compared with apparently healthy controls.