| Summary: | Pregnant women are a high risk group for iron deficiency. Prevalence of anemia based on WHO data in 2008 was 24.8% globally and prevalence among pregnant women reached 41.6%. Laboratory parameters for the diagnosis and monitoring of iron deficiency include hematological and biochemical parameters. Ferritin has been defined by WHO as an indicator but also an acute phase protein which means that the concentration will increase during inflammation. New developments occurred with the discovery of hepcidin, a hormone that functions as a regulator of iron homeostasis. Hepcidin has been taken into consideration in selecting the type of iron therapy in iron deficiency.
Aims of this study was to determine the relationship between hepcidin and ferritin. Subjects were healthy pregnant women with exclusion criteria Hb level
< 11 g/dl, negative result of CRP with leucocytosis and absolute neutrophilia, obtained a history of diabetes mellitus in pregnancy (gestational diabetes mellitus), inflammation/infection and disease due to blood disorders (thalassemia, hemolytic anemia). Test for serum ferritin level by electrochemiluminescens method, while for serum hepcidin using ELISA method.
The study subjects were 56 healthy pregnant women. Haemoglobin and RDW did not differ between trimesters. Parameter MCV and MCH tend to be higher with increasing gestational age. Leukocytes count and neothrophils percentages was also found higher in the older gestational age. Mean serum ferritin level was 21,64 μg/l and tended to be higher with increasing gestational age. Mean levels of hepcidin 17.92 ng/ml with a corresponding increase in the tendency of increasing gestational age. Based on ferritin levels obtained 14 subjects meeting criteria for iron deficiency and non iron deficiency 47 subjects with no statistically significant difference. Strong positive correlation was obtained between serum hepcidin levels with serum ferritin levels with r = 0.77 and p = 0.001.
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