Iron Status and Red Cell Parameters in Pregnant and Non-pregnant Adolescents in Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa)

Aims: The objective of this study was to evaluate iron metabolism and compare iron stores between pregnant and non-pregnant adolescents in Côte d’Ivoire.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was undertaken with 187 volunteers adolescents aged from 15 to 19 years. For this study, adolescents were divided into 2 groups with 75 non-pregnant adolescents and 112 pregnant adolescents. Study population was recruited January 2006 to January 2008 in 4 urban community health centers, of Abidjan. Assays of blood samples were performed in Laboratory of Physiology, Pharmacology and Phytotherapy (Nangui Abrogoua University) and in Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry of University Hospital Centre (Cocody, Félix Houphouët-Boigny University).

Methodology: In each pregnant adolescent a blood sample was collected by venipuncture on a dry and EDTA tubes of 5 ml. With these blood samples, haematological and biochemical parameters were determined.

Results: Haematological parameters were decreased in pregnant adolescents at the third trimester of pregnancy compared with control adolescents. Pregnant adolescents were more anaemic during pregnancy (77.7 %) compared with non-pregnant adolescents (42.7 %). Iron stores were greatly decreased in 72.3 %, 83.9 % and 95.6 % of adolescents respectively during the 3 trimesters of pregnancy compared with non-pregnant adolescents (34.7 %). In addition, high prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia was recorded throughout pregnancy in adolescents. Therefore, iron status was more altered in pregnant adolescents (11.6 %, 9.8 % and 0.0 % respectively) compared with non-pregnant adolescents (13.3 %). The results of this study show that the causes of pronounced degradation in iron status are insufficient in size of iron stores in pregnant adolescents and non-pregnant adolescents.

Conclusion: Iron metabolism alteration is important in pregnant adolescents in Côte d’Ivoire, causing severe anaemia in this group of population.