Abstract
Background: Oral iron supplements, usually in the form of ferrous salts, are associated with gastric side effects, poor compliance and failure of anemia treatment. To make iron more bioavailable, reduce the gastric side effects and increase the patient compliance, newer iron form, Ferric Sodium EDTA, has become available on the market. Objective: To assess the change in hemoglobin level after iron supplementation with Ferric Sodium EDTA during pregnancy. Materials and Methods: This is a longitudinal study concerning 337 women attending antenatal care in maternity hospitals in the Democratic Republic of Congo from May to December 2020. The study included sociodemographic and anthropometric variables along with type of feed, hemoglobin level at recruitment and after three weeks of taking iron supplement with Ferric Sodium EDTA (Hemoforce Plus Zinc® syrup). For statistical analysis, we used t-test or ANOVA and chi-square test, the significance being stated at p Results: The frequency of pregnancy anemia was 51.4%. The mean hemoglobin value of the overall study group was 8.7 ± 0.5 g/dL. The mean maternal age and weight were 28.9 ± 6.2 years and 65.3 ± 11.7 kg, respectively. Most pregnant women (83.1%) had a diet consisting of food of plant and animal origin in equal proportions. Mean of Body Mass Index (BMI) was 24.6 ± 4.6 Kg/m2 and 44.3% were overweight and obese. The co-morbidities associated were malaria and intestinal parasitosis found in 45% and 5.9% of cases, respectively. After iron treatment with Ferric Sodium EDTA, the average hemoglobin level increased to 11.2 g/dL with mean gain of 2.5 g/dL (p Conclusion: Ferric Sodium EDTA as a novel iron formulation (Hemoforce Plus Zinc®) has shown a rapid increase in hemoglobin levels in pregnant women suffering from anemia. The speedy rise in hemoglobin is related to the property of Ferric Sodium EDTA to enhance the iron absorption by inhibiting the dietary iron inhibitors. Thus, Ferric Sodium EDTA should be used as an effective and promising iron supplement in pregnant women with iron deficiency anemia.
Highlights
Oral iron supplements, usually in the form of ferrous salts, are associated with gastric side effects, poor compliance and failure of anemia treatment
Ferric Sodium EDTA as a novel iron formulation (Hemoforce Plus Zinc®) has shown a rapid increase in hemoglobin levels in pregnant women suffering from anemia
The speedy rise in hemoglobin is related to the property of Ferric Sodium EDTA to enhance the iron absorption by inhibiting the dietary iron inhibitors
Summary
Usually in the form of ferrous salts, are associated with gastric side effects, poor compliance and failure of anemia treatment. Objective: To assess the change in hemoglobin level after iron supplementation with Ferric Sodium EDTA during pregnancy. The study included sociodemographic and anthropometric variables along with type of feed, hemoglobin level at recruitment and after three weeks of taking iron supplement with Ferric Sodium EDTA (Hemoforce Plus Zinc® syrup). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the hemoglobin (Hb) threshold for anemia is below 11 g/dl for pregnant women in developed countries and below 10 g/dl in developing countries [1]. Anemia affects 38% (32.4 million) of pregnant women globally with highest prevalence in the WHO regions of South-East Asia (48.7%) and Africa (46.3%) [3]. The WHO has estimated prevalence of anemia in developed and developing countries among pregnant women at 14% and 51%, respectively [5]. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular in the university clinics of Kinshasa, the frequency of anemia during pregnancy has varied, in the last decade, from 52.2% to 53.4% [6] [7]
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