Abstract
Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is associated with zinc deficiency; zinc supplementation may ameliorate some of its clinical manifestations including the relief of painful crisis. Subjects and Methods. Serum zinc levels were determined in 71 children with SCA and painful crisis and in equal numbers in steady state. Seventy-one children with AA genotype acted as controls. Qualitative assessment of zinc content of 24-hour dietary recall and the last meal consumed before blood was drawn was taken. Serum zinc was determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Haemoglobin concentration and packed cell volume (PCV) were determined using standard methods. Results. The mean serum zinc concentration in the study was less than international reference range. The controls had significantly higher serum zinc concentrations than the SCA group (42.7 ± 13.6 versus 32.3 ± 14.0 μg/dL, P < .000); this difference was due to the significantly lower values of serum zinc in SCA with painful crisis compared with the remaining two groups F = 30.9, P<.000. There was a positive correlation between serum zinc and haemoglobin concentration only in the control group (r = 0.4; P = .001). Conclusion. The serum zinc levels in this study were low. Painful crisis in SCA may exert greater demand for zinc utilization in children with SCA thereby resulting in lower serum levels.
Highlights
Sickle cell anaemia is the most common inherited disorder of the black race. It affects red blood cells resulting in chronic haemolytic anaemia of varying severity and in some patients, periodic painful crisis caused by the occlusion of small blood vessels by spontaneous intravascular sickling with multiorgan affectation [1, 2]
Seventy one of the subjects with sickle cell anaemia were in steady state while the rest had vaso-occlusive bone pain crisis
The serum zinc levels in this group of Nigerian children were found to be lower than the internationally acceptable normal values of 50–150 μg/dL {7.65–22.95 μmol/L} [27]. This is true for the control group as well as those with sickle cell anaemia
Summary
Sickle cell anaemia is the most common inherited disorder of the black race. It affects red blood cells resulting in chronic haemolytic anaemia of varying severity and in some patients, periodic painful crisis caused by the occlusion of small blood vessels by spontaneous intravascular sickling with multiorgan affectation [1, 2].Brewer and Oelshlegel discovered that calcium binding to red cell membrane is responsible for the formation of irreversible sickled cells and that the antisickling effect of zinc in sickle cell anaemia is due to its ability to antagonize calcium binding to red cell membrane [3]. Sickle cell anaemia is the most common inherited disorder of the black race It affects red blood cells resulting in chronic haemolytic anaemia of varying severity and in some patients, periodic painful crisis caused by the occlusion of small blood vessels by spontaneous intravascular sickling with multiorgan affectation [1, 2]. Zinc exerts its antioxidant action by inhibition of lipid peroxidation which occurs in red blood cells and liver thereby stabilizing biomembranes and biostructures protecting the body against oxidative stress [5, 6]. These effects of zinc are believed to give zinc its ability to reduce vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell anaemia
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