Evaluation of malondialdehyde and glutathione peroxidase changes in iron deficiency anemia patients and their correlation with body iron status and haematological indices

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a prevalent disorder among women of reproductive age. This study aims at
investigating whether the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels can
be affected during iron deficiency anemia among women of reproductive age. In this study, 30 women with
IDA, 30 with iron deficiency and 30 healthy controls were studied. The concentrations of serum malondialdehyde were measured and the activities of GPx were evaluated in all the three groups. The mean serum
concentration of MDA was significantly higher in IDA group than ID group and healthy group women
(5.18±0.46 vs 3.4±0.34 and 2.75±0.33 µmol/L) respectively. The mean GPx activity in IDA groups was
significantly lower than healthy group women (1.4±0.2 vs 2.91±0.12 and 2.99±0.24 (U/gHb)). The concentration of MDA in IDA and ID group was negatively correlated with levels of haemoglobin (Hb), mean
corpuscular volume (MCV) and serum ferritin (p˂0.05). In healthy control subjects; there was a negative
correlation between MDA concentration and Hb, MCV and serum ferritin (p˂0.01). Furthermore, the activity of GPx and these factors levels showed significant positive correlation in every group (p ˂0.01 and p
˂0.05). Our findings showed that lipid peroxidation increases in women with ID and IDA but the activity of
GPx decreases in IDA but not in ID. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between serum free
iron levels with MDA concentration and GPx activity