Abstract
According to WHO, more than one in three pregnant women worldwide has iron-deficiency anaemia.1 Because this disorder is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes if present at delivery, iron supplementation is recommended.2 However, treating iron-deficiency anaemia in pregnancy is not straightforward. Patients' adherence to daily oral iron treatment regimens is low, most likely because of a high frequency of gastrointestinal side-effects,3 and oral iron has a low rate of systematic absorption.
Highlights
According to WHO, more than one in three pregnant women worldwide has iron-deficiency anaemia.[1]
In The Lancet Global Health, Amat Bah and colleagues assessed whether the treatment of iron-deficiency anaemia in pregnancy could be optimised by incor porating a physiologically plausible biomarker, hepcidin, into treatment algorithms.[7]
Amounts of hepcidin are suppressed by iron deficiency or iron-deficiency anaemia and are increased by high amounts in serum of iron or iron stores
Summary
According to WHO, more than one in three pregnant women worldwide has iron-deficiency anaemia.[1]. This relationship is important because higher amounts of hepcidin decrease intestinal absorption of iron.[8] Bah and colleagues posited that incorporating the amount of hepcidin into irondeficiency anaemia treatment algorithms would allow iron supplementation to be given only to those women who would more effectively absorb iron, ensuring that a treatment regimen with significant side-effects is restricted to those with the highest likelihood of receiving maximum benefit.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
