ABSTRACT
Globally, anaemia is the bane of pregnancy and this is mostly observed in areas where malaria is endemic. Other factors such as iron deficiency and G6PD have also been shown to contribute to anaemia in this cohort of women. The purpose of this study was to assess glucose – 6 – phosphate dehydrogenase and serum iron in the early detection of anaemia in pregnancy before clinical manifestation. This was a cross section study and was carried out on two hundred and fifty (250) women out of which, one hundred and fifty (150) were pregnant women that served as test subjects while the remaining one hundred (100) were apparently healthy females (non-pregnant) that served as controls. Pregnancy was confirmed using Qualitative Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) Test, Nova test kit, Beijing, China. Full Blood Count (FBC) was estimated using Mythic 18 auto haematology analyser, Germany. G6PD, serum iron and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were analysed using colorimetric methods. Giemsa stain was used for staining malaria parasite slides. The mean values of G6PD were (9.14±0.36)µg/Hb for pregnant women and (11.45±0.46)µg/Hb for controls, serum iron (18.90±0.97)µmo/L for pregnant women and (22.09±1.06)µmo/L for controls, TIBC (38.81±2.02)µmo/L for pregnant women and (46.60±2.53)µmo/L for controls, lymphocyte count (30.99±0.77)% for pregnant women and (42.95±1.21)% for controls, monocyte count (5.88±0.20)% for pregnant women and (6.63±0.21)% for controls, Neutrophil count (63.10±0.76)% for pregnant women and (50.88±1.33)% for controls, Haemoglobin concentration (12.69±0.11)g/dl for pregnant women and (14.01±0.14)g/dl for control, PCV (38.16±0.29)% for pregnant women and (41.52±0.39)% for controls and platelet count (276.34±8.81)109/L for pregnant women and (306.27±7.39)109/L for controls. 87.21% had microcytic hypochromic anaemia, 9.3% were normcytic normochromic while, 3.49% had macrocytic hypochromic anaemia. Furthermore, 64.29% of the cohort had mild anaemia while 35.71% had moderate anaemia. At 4 – 12 weeks of gestation, mean serum iron and TIBC were (18.4±2.84 and 38.8±5.9)µmo/L respectively, at 13 – 28 weeks of gestation, mean serum iron and TIBC increased to 20.6±2.2µmo/L and 41.2±4.58µmo/L respectively. However, there was a significant decrease in serum iron and TIBC level to 15.8±3.1µmo/L and 33.5±6.4µmo/L respectively at 29 – 38 weeks of gestation. Mean G6PD levels were 9.38±1.068µg/Hb at 4 – 12 weeks of gestation, 9.25±0.38µg/Hb at 13 – 28 weeks of gestation and 8.82±1.11µg/Hb at 29 – 38 weeks of gestation. In conclusion, G6PD levels decreases as pregnancy progressed. Serum iron and TIBC also decreases as pregnancy reaches a more advanced stage. Pregnancy also increases the susceptibility to malaria infection. The predominant form of anaemia in pregnant women is microcytic hypochromic anaemia although mild in severity.
