ABSTRACT
Anaemia tend to be one of the problems that are associated with pregnancy. Some traditional biomarkers such as heamatocrit, heamoglobin and other heamatological parameters do not always provide sufficient information in determining the aetiology of anaemia in pregnant women and as such this significantly affects the implementation of preventive or therapeutic interventions. The aim of this study was to assess the serum erythropoietin, urinary hepcidin and iron status parameters in pregnant women that register for antenatal for the first time in Benin metropolis. This is a case-control study of 350 pregnant women between the age of 20-40years consisting of 200 pregnant women that registered for antenatal for the first time as case subjects and 150 non-pregnant women as controls. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data. Blood sample was collected from each of the participants and serum erythropoietin, urinary hepcidin, serum ferritin were measured using Enzyme linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques, serum iron (Fe) was determined using Photometric method while Full blood count (FBC) and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR) were analysed using automatic haematology analyzer and westergrens method respectively. The data generated was analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. Result obtained shows that the mean values of serum erythropoietin, total iron binding capacity, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, mean cell volume and mean cell hemoglobin were significantly higher (p<0.005) among pregnant women that booked for antenatal for the first time than the non-pregnant women, while Urinary hepcidin, serum ferritin, percentage saturation transferrin, significantly lower (p<0.05) in first booking pregnant women than the control subjects. Pregnant women were also classified based on their anaemic status and gestational period at which there registered, results obtained based on their anaemic status shows that serum erythropoietin, urinary hepcidin, were significantly higher while serum ferritin ,serum iron and total iron binding capacity were significantly lower in anaemic pregnant women than non anaemic pregnant women. Urinary hepcidin, total iron binding capacity and transferrin were significantly lower, however there was no significant difference in serum erythropoietin, serum iron in those that registered <12 weeks than those that registered >12 weeks. The findings from the study indicated that marked changes occur in iron parameters during pregnancy and using a single biomaker for the diagnosis of anaemia in pregnancy does not provide adequate information, this might be detrimental to both the mother and the foetus, inclusion of hepcidin in routine investigation may enhance diagnosis and reduce mortality.
