SERUM IRON AND ITS POSSIBLE LINK TO THE ETIOLOGY OF PREGNANCY INDUCED HYPERTENSION

BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia-eclampsia is an important complication of pregnancy. It is associated with increased maternal morbidity and mortality. It has been well established that endothelial damage due to oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia- eclampsia. Iron may act as catalyst in this oxidative process. So in preeclampsia, pregnant women should be investigated for elevated serum iron and serum ferritin. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate serum iron parameters in preeclampsia-eclampsia and whether it has any possible contribution to the etiology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive 200 women with eclampsia were studied. Controls were 200 normal pregnant women. Blood was collected from all the women. We estimated hemoglobin and hematocrit concentration, MCV, MCH, MCHC, serum iron and ferritin level of all the women. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: Mean serum iron concentration in women with eclampsia and controls were 22.93 ± 6.68 and 14.74 ± 2.76 (p<0.01) respectively and serum ferritin were 31.23 ± 6.16 and 20.69 ± 6.71 (p<0.005) respectively. But there were no significant differences in the hematological parameters among the two groups. CONCLUSION: Serum iron and ferritin were elevated in eclampsia. Catalytic iron may be involved in the pathogenesis of pregnancy induced hypertension.