SOLUBLE TRANSFERRIN RECEPTOR ASSAY IN THE ASSESSMENT OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA IN PREGNANT NIGERIAN WOMEN IN BENIN CITY

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Current markers of iron deficiency tend to be less
reliable in pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness
of soluble serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) as a marker for the detection of
iron deficiency during pregnancy and also to define the iron status in 150
pregnant Nigeria women in order to establish any relationship between sTfR
in iron deficient and control population.
DESIGN: A cross sectional study of sTfR in comparison with the
concentration of serum ferritin and haemoglobin in blood collected between
gestational age 12 and 36 weeks.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
One hundred and fifty women were entered into this study. The
women were then segregated into two groups. The study group comprised of
one hundred women and the control group was made up of fifty women. The
haematocrit, haemogram and the mean cell volume were used to determine
of anaemia. Serum was collected ans stored until when analysis was done.
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The serum transferrin receptor and ferritin were assayed using a kit
manufactured by Ramco laboratory Texas USA. The principle of the assay is
based on an enzyme linked immunoassay technique.
RESULT:
The specificity of sTfR was found to be 100% and the sensitivity was
88.6%. This showed that iron deficient erythropoiesis was present which
could not be attributed to any other cause. The levels of sTfR also showed a
good correlation with serum ferritin. Serum transferring receptor level was
found to be moderately increased from the second trimester to the third
trimester by 8% among the sample population. However when a comparison
was made between the control population and the sample population, it was
found that the level of sTfR rose from 6.7±1.4 ug/dl in the control to
18.0±6.6ug/dl in the sample population in the second trimester while it rose
from 7.25±0.9ug/dl in the control and 19.69±7.1ug/dl in the sample
population in the third trimester. This presents a picture of increased
erythropoietic activity as the pregnancy progresses.
CONCLUSION: The specificity of sTfR was 100% and the
sensitivity was 88.6% and the level of serum transferrin receptor increases as
the pregnancy progresses and also it correlates with the level of serum
ferritin. . The low sTfR concentration in the second trimester seen in the
control population may be due to reduced erythropoiesis whereas the
increase from early to late pregnancy reflects increased erythropoiesis and in
the case of iron deficiency also tissue iron deficiency.
Key words: Pregnancy. Iron deficiency anaemia; Soluble transferrin
receptor; Serum ferritin; Haemoglobin; Erythropoiesis; Parity; Gestational
age; Women; Benin City.