Department of Health Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, United States of America.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 Oct 5;15(10):e0240254. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240254. eCollection 2020.
Anemia in women of reproductive age is highly prevalent globally and remains a public health problem. In Ethiopia, despite efforts to minimize the burden of anemia, it is still a moderate public health problem. Anemia has various etiologies including nutritional deficiency, parasitic infection, and inflammation. The aim of this study was to examine contributing factors to anemia in lactating women. Following ethical approval, and six months after delivery, all lactating women (n = 150) were recruited to participate in this study from eight randomly selected rural villages. Anthropometric and socio-economic factors were assessed. From each, a blood sample was collected for measuring hemoglobin, iron biomarkers, zinc, selenium, and inflammation markers. The median (IQR) hemoglobin (Hb) was 132 (123, 139) g/L. Of the women, 19% were anemic and 7% had iron deficiency anemia; 31% were iron deficient and 2% had iron overload. Also, 8% had functional iron deficit, 6% had acute inflammation, 13% had chronic inflammation, and 16% had tissue iron deficiency. The majority (78%) of the women had low plasma zinc out of which more than 16% were anemic. Hb was positively associated with plasma iron and plasma zinc and negatively associated with transferrin receptor (TfR) and α-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). Plasma iron, AGP, TfR, hepcidin and plasma zinc were significant predictors of maternal anemia. Additionally MUAC and level of education were associated positively with maternal hemoglobin. This study showed that maternal anemia was associated with multiple factors including nutritional deficiencies, inflammation and limited education.
育龄妇女贫血在全球范围内普遍存在，仍然是一个公共卫生问题。在埃塞俄比亚，尽管已经做出了努力来减轻贫血的负担，但它仍然是一个中度的公共卫生问题。贫血有多种病因，包括营养缺乏、寄生虫感染和炎症。本研究旨在探讨哺乳期妇女贫血的相关因素。在获得伦理批准后，在分娩后六个月，从 8 个随机选择的农村村庄招募了所有哺乳期妇女（n=150）参与这项研究。评估了体格测量和社会经济因素。从每位妇女中采集一份血液样本，用于测量血红蛋白、铁生物标志物、锌、硒和炎症标志物。血红蛋白（Hb）的中位数（IQR）为 132（123，139）g/L。其中，19%的妇女贫血，7%患有缺铁性贫血；31%的妇女缺铁，2%的妇女铁过载。此外，8%的妇女有功能性缺铁，6%的妇女有急性炎症，13%的妇女有慢性炎症，16%的妇女有组织缺铁。大多数（78%）妇女的血浆锌水平较低，其中超过 16%的妇女贫血。Hb 与血浆铁和血浆锌呈正相关，与转铁蛋白受体（TfR）和α-1-酸性糖蛋白（AGP）呈负相关。血浆铁、AGP、TfR、hepcidin 和血浆锌是导致产妇贫血的重要预测因子。此外，MUAC 和教育水平与产妇血红蛋白呈正相关。本研究表明，产妇贫血与多种因素有关，包括营养缺乏、炎症和受教育程度有限。
