PAN AFRICAN JOURNAL OF LIFE SCIENCES
e-ISSN: 2672-5924
Volume 9, No. 1, April 2025
Pages 343-348
DOI: 10.36108/pajols/5202/90.0160
Iron, Vitamin B12, and Folic Acid: Involvement in the Anaemic Presentation Associated with Leukaemia
Olatunde Fakoya1,2, Nneka N. Osobukola1, Stella S. Rwezaula1, Comfort Folorunso1, Tolu Adetoro3, Oloruntoba Ekun3, Ann Ogbenna3 and Oluyemi Akinloye1,2*,.
1Center for Genomics of Non-communicable Diseases and Personalized Health Care, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria.
2Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnosis Unit, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, IdiAraba, Lagos, Nigeria.
3Department of Haematology, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, IdiAraba, Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract
Background: Iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid are essential micronutrients with biologic roles critical for cellular develop-ment, proliferation, and survival. In haemopoiesis, prolonged depletion is associated with dysfunctional erythropoietic differ-entiation and maturation. This study evaluates nutritional microelements; iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid in leukaemia pa-tients and investigates their involvement in the anaemia observed in leukaemia
Methods: The case-control study involves fifty-three volunteers living with leukaemia and forty-five apparently healthy participants, age and sex matched as cases and controls. Leukaemia diagnosis was by microscopic examination of subjects’ peripheral blood and bone marrow stained slides in addition to evidence of clinical manifestations of the disease. Peripheral whole blood was collected for a complete blood count (CBC) test and estimated using a 5-part differential haematology ana-lyzer. At the same time, serum samples were processed for serum iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid using ELISA method. The data was analysed by SPSS version 25.
Results: Complete blood count results showed statistically significant (P<0.01) reduction in haemoglobin concentration (9.94±2.1Vs13.11±1.4g/dl), haematocrit (30.50±6.3Vs39.09±4.1%), total red cell count (3.63±0.8Vs4.73±0.7×1012/L) and mean cell haemoglobin concentration (33.10±3.6Vs33.4±7.6g/l) in cases when compared with controls. Serum iron (57.18±21.8Vs18.96±6.8 μμmol/L) was markedly elevated (P<0.01) in leukaemia. Vitamin B12 and folic acid showed signifi-cant differences among the leukaemia subtypes, with increments in chronic leukemias for both parameters compared to the acute types.
Conclusion: Our findings showed non-responsive normocytic normochromic anaemia in leukaemia, with markedly elevated serum iron, implicating a severe circulating iron overload. We hypothesized that supplementation with these micronutrients is not beneficial for managing anaemia in Leukaemia.
Keywords: Leukaemia, Anaemia, Micronutrients, Iron, Vitamin B12, Folat