Investigation of ischemia modified albumin levels in iron deficiency anemia

Abstract

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of ischemia-modified albumin (IMA), before and after oral iron supplementation in iron deficiency anemia and to determine the correlations between IMA and hemoglobin values. Study design IMA, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, ferritin, iron, total iron binding capacity and albumin levels were measured in 140 female patients with newly established as iron deficiency anemia before and after treatment and in 84 female healthy controls. Results IMA levels were higher in the anemia group [0.340±0.082 absorbance units (ABSU)] compared to control group (0.291±0.077 ABSU). After oral iron therapy we saw that IMA values (0.392±0.080 ABSU) were higher than the IMA levels of the anemia group and the control group (p<0.05). Only in the anemia group there were negative correlations between IMA and hemoglobin, hematocrit. Conclusion We conclude that the high levels of IMA in the anemia group might be attributed to hypoxia due to low hemoglobin levels. Iron is an oxidant element and oral iron supplementation may be associated with oxidative stress and may increase IMA levels by changing the albumin molecule. We thought that, IMA can be demonstrative of the severity of anemia since it was correlated with hemoglobin in the anemia group.