Efficacy of Iron Bisglycinate in Treatment of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Pregnant Women
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2017-10-31
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Anemia in pregnancy is defined by the World Health Organization as hemoglobin levels of ≤ 11
g/dl. Globally, a prevalence rate of 38% was estimated by the World Health Organization for
pregnant women.Treatment of iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy remains a main public
health issue. Oral iron salts have been recommended for treatment of iron deficiency anemia
e.g. ferrous fumarate. Increasing the dose of ferrous fumarate will subsequently increase the
bioavailability of iron preparation, however it also increases the frequency of
gastrointestinal tract side effects e.g. nausea, constipation, diarrhea, flatulence, and
black stained stools. Besides, the increased bioavailable ferrous fumarate may decrease by
many foods and / or chelating drugs in the gastrointestinal tract which interfere with its
absorption leading to variability in the hemoglobin correction during the treatment.
Ferrous bisglycinate is an iron amino acid chelate. It is formed by reaction of ferrous iron
with two molecules of the amino acid glycine by a covalent bound in a process called
chelation. Ferrous bisglycinate is claimed to have better patient compliance because of fewer
gastrointestinal tract side effects. It is also claimed that ferrous bisglycinate improves
iron absorption, storage and increase hemoglobin level better than the conventionally used
iron salts.