Biochemical study on early and late pregnancy anaemia with special reference to anaemia associated proteins haptoglobin and transferrin

ABSTRACT

Anemia associated proteins, haptoglobin and transferrin were measured in 98 pregnant ladies. Women were classified into two groups according to the duration of pregnancy. The first group included 41 ladies in the first trimester of pregnancy, while the second group included 57 women in the third trimester. Anemia [hemoglobin < 11 gm/dl] has been diagnosed in about 51% of the first group compared to about 58% of the second group. Iron deficiency anemia was by far the commonest variety comprising 89% of both groups. The minority of subjects [about 2%] who had hemolytic anemia had significantly lower levels of haptoglobin, which may indicate a diagnostic value to differentiate between iron deficiency and hemolytic anemias. Serum transferrin showed a highly significant increase in both early and late pregnancy iron deficiency anemia. However, the estimation of these proteins is tedious and not available for wide scale use, so that hemoglobin estimation remains a satisfactory method for routine screening for anemia during pregnancy