Serum zinc and magnesium levels in steady state sickle cell children with or without anaemia attending Jos University Teaching Hospital, North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is a public health problem. Zinc and Magnesium are essential metal antioxidants important in protection of erythrocytes membrane from oxidative stress; a trigger of vaso- occlusive crisis. This study aims to evaluate the serum levels of zinc and magnesium in steady state sickle cell children with or without anaemia. Comparative cross-sectional study. Forty children aged 1-15 years with sickle cell disease (SCD) in steady state with or without aneamia and 40 age- and- sex matched HbAA counterparts (non-SCD) were consecutively recruited for the study. Each forty SCD and non-SCD children were included in the study. Haemoglobin variants were analysed using haemoglobin electrophoresis. Packed cell volume was determined using haematocrit centrifuge and reader. Serum zinc and magnesium were assayed colorimetrically. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. Student unpaired t- test was employed to assess the significance of the differences. p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Serum magnesium unlike zinc was significantly (p<0.05) higher in non-SCD group (2.18mg/dl) compared to the SCD group (2.09mg/dl). There was no significant (p>0.05) effect of SCD and anaemia on serum zinc. This study has shown that serum Mg was significantly lower in children with SCD compared to non-SCD counterpart.