A study of biomarker of inflammation in anaemic pregnant women

Low-grade inflammation has been reported in pregnancy. Previous studies suggested that C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are unaffected by anaemia, but levels may be altered in late pregnancy. It is not completely clear whether such alterations are dependent on anaemia status. We measured serum high sensitive C-reactive (hs-CRP) levels in pregnant women to know whether inflammation is higher in pregnant women with anaemia than non-anaemic pregnant women. A total of 1200 (400 from each centre) confirmed pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, General Hospital Ijebu-Ode and General Hospital, Abeokuta were randomly enrolled in the study. The study participants were grouped based on haemoglobin concentrations as mild, moderate and severe anaemia. Packed cell volume, haemoglobin and hs-CRP were assayed using auto-analyzers and reagents supplied by Abbot Diagnostics BV (Wiesbaden, Germany and Hoofddorp, Netherlands respectively). The means hsCRP (p<0.001) and BMI (p=0.017) in anaemic pregnant women were higher than non-anaemic pregnant women. The means hs-CRP for mild, moderate and severe anaemic conditions were 4.9±0.19mg/L, 5.0±0.16mg/L and 9.4±1.81mgLl. The Duncan multiple test shows that the hs-CRP value in severe was significantly higher (p<0.05) than mild and moderate while the means of mild and moderate anaemic conditions were not significantly different from each other. In conclusion, hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in anaemic pregnant women than non-anaemic pregnant women, the elevation of hs-CRP levels were associated with severity of anaemia. Adequate ante-natal management of pregnant women cannot be overemphasized to avoid the complications associated with anaemia and inflammation.

Keywords: Anaemia, body mass index, high-sensitive C-reactive protein, pregnancy.