Assessment of Zinc Level and its Relationship with Some Hematological Parameters among Patients with Sickle Cell Anemia in Abakaliki, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is an inherited hemoglobin (Hb) disorder with susceptibility for oxidative damage due to chronic redox imbalance in red blood cells (RBCs) which often results in hemolysis, endothelial injury, recurrent vaso-occlusive episodes, and derangement in hematological parameters. Zinc is an antioxidant which helps to reduce oxidative damage. This study aimed to assess the serum level of zinc and its relationship with some hematological parameters in patients with SCA (HbSS).

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparative study which involved HbSS patients in steady state with sex‐ and age‐matched HbAA control. Assay of Hb phenotype, serum zinc level, and some haematological parameters were done. Ethical approval was gotten from the institutional review board, and each participant gave informed written consent before recruitment into the study. Analysis of all data obtained was done using SPSS software, version 20.

Results: Thirty adult patients with SCA and thirty sex- and age-matched controls with a mean age of 26.7 ± 7.6 years and 27.7± 5.3, respectively, were studied. There was a significant decrease in serum zinc level among patients with HbSS compared to those with HbAA (P = 0.038). Similarly, patients with HbSS had significantly lower Hb level, packed cell volume, and RBC count compared to HbAA control (P < 0.05). On the contrary, patients with HbSS had significantly higher white cell count and platelet count compared to HbAA individuals (P < 0.05). Correlation between serum zinc level and blood counts showed weak positive relationship between zinc level and Hb level (r = 0.04, P = 0.8) and weak negative relationship between serum zinc level and platelet count (r = −0.3, P = 0.1), as well as zinc and white blood cell (WBC) count (r = −0.2, P = 0.4).

Conclusion: There was a significantly low level of zinc among patients with HbSS compared with HbAA controls. Patients with HbSS had zinc levels that weakly correlated with Hb level positively but weakly negatively correlated with platelet and WBC counts. Further studies are required on a wider scale to assess whether zinc supplementation may improve blood counts in patients with SCA.