QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gibson, R. S. Articles by Hambidge, K. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gibson, R. S. Articles by Hambidge, K. M.

---

Community and International Nutrition

Zinc, Gravida, Infection, and Iron, but Not Vitamin B-12 or Folate Status, Predict Hemoglobin during Pregnancy in Southern Ethiopia^1,2

³ Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 9015; ⁴ College of Agriculture, Hawassa University, Awassa, Ethiopia; ⁵ Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, and ⁶ Section of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado, Denver, CO 80262; and ⁷ Department of Nutrition, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rosalind.gibson{at}stonebow.otago.ac.nz.

The etiology of anemia during pregnancy in rural Southern Ethiopia is uncertain. Intakes of animal-source foods are low and infections and bacterial overgrowth probably coexist. We therefore measured the dietary intakes of a convenience sample of Sidama women in late pregnancy who consumed either maize (n = 68) or fermented enset (Enset ventricosum) (n = 31) as their major energy source. Blood samples were analyzed for a complete blood count, vitamin B-12 and folate status, plasma ferritin, retinol, zinc, albumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP). The role of infection and gravida was also examined. Dietary intakes were calculated from 1-d weighed records. No cellular animal products were consumed. Of the women, 29% had anemia, 13% had iron deficiency anemia, 33% had depleted iron stores, and 74 and 27% had low plasma zinc and retinol, respectively. Only 2% had low plasma folate (<6.8 nmol/L) and 23% had low plasma vitamin B-12 (<150 pmol/L), even though 62% had elevated plasma methylmalonic acid (MMA) (> 271 nmol/L). None had elevated plasma cystathionine or total homocysteine (tHcys). Women with enset-based diets had higher (P = 0.052) plasma vitamin B-12 concentration and lower (P < 0.05) cell volume, plasma cystathionine, and retinol than women consuming maize-based diets, but mean hemoglobin, plasma ferritin, MMA, tHcys, and folate did not differ. Plasma zinc, followed by CRP (5 mg/L), gravida (4), and plasma ferritin (12 µg/L) status were major positive predictors of hemoglobin. Despite some early functional vitamin B-12 deficiency, there was no macrocytic anemia. Consumption of fermented enset may have increased vitamin B-12 levels in diet and plasma.