Efficacy Studies of Natural and Synthetic Iron Sources among Anemic Pregnant Women in Community of Faisalabad-Pakistan

Abstract

In present study, different treatments enriched with natural and synthetic Iron sources along with control were developed and evaluated for proximate composition, mineral content, calorific values and sensory attributes fortnightly for sixty days and their efficacy was tested among anemic pregnant women for ninety days. Blood of 787 pregnant women was investigated for Hb status. Among them 38.50 % were found anemic (Hb < 11 g/dL) whose blood was further analyzed for complete blood count (CBC), serum Ferritin, serum Fe, total Fe binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin saturation (TS) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) to find IDA victims. Hence, 70.29 % pregnant females were identified as IDA sufferer. Finally, 200 volunteers were assorted randomly into 4 treatment groups. As regards product development, all treatments provided 50 % RDA (13.5 mg) of Fe except placebo (T0). The significant variations (P-value <0.05) in anthropometrics, energetics and dietary intakes were observed during the study. Hematological indices were improved significantly by T2 in 90 days as RBC count (4.60±0.027 M/uL), Hb (11.01±0.039 g/dL), Hct (33.57±0.091 %), MCV (75.00±0.117 fL), MCH (24.96±0.089 pg), MCHC (30.10±0.101 g/dL), Serum Fe (47.72±0.219 ug/dL), TIBC (373.42±1.154 ug/dL) and TS (10.20±0.093 %). However, serum Ferritin had maximum uplift (8.28±0.234 ng/mL) by T1. Liver function tests (LFTs) and renal function tests (RFTs) of volunteers showed safety of intervention. A significant positive correlation (P-value <0.05) was also found amongst indices of IDA. The outcomes of the current research work showed that natural iron sources like blackstrap molasses, dried apricots, dried dates and rape seeds are cost effective and healthful foods having high bio-available Fe as compared to synthetic Iron sources (Ferrous sulphate) in combating IDA among pregnant women.