Amino acid chelated iron versus ferrous fumarate in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia with pregnancy: Randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Anemia is a major health problem. Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia during pregnancy. Suboptimal iron content in the average mother’s diet and the presence of insufficient iron stores during the reproductive years are causes for this predominance. In many developing countries, iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in pregnancy is more of a rule than an exception with a prevalence of 52%. In the Western societies, the frequency of IDA is approximately 25% in pregnant women not taking iron supplements and less than 5% in women taking iron supplements. Anemia has a significant impact on the health of the fetus and the mother. It can be associated with increased preterm labour, preeclampsia, and maternal sepsis. It can also lead to fetal loss or even perinatal deaths. The ideal treatment for IDA with pregnancy still represents a great challenge. Oral iron preparations are the routine line used for correction of IDA with pregnancy because of its safety, effectiveness and low cost. They include ferrous salts as ferrous sulphate, ferrous fumarate and ferrous gluconate or amino acid chelated iron as ferrous bis-glycinate. Chelation is a chemical bonding process results from the reaction of a metal ion from a soluble salt with amino acids. Ferrous bis-glycinate is highly stable amino acid chelate which is formed by the binding of two molecules of glycine to one Fe2+ atom. It is absorbed intact into the intestinal mucosal cells