Pre-eclampsia as one of pregnancy related complications is a notable burden of adverse health. The aim of this study was to assess the variation in the levels of serum iron, ferritin, and total iron binding capacity and percentage saturation of transferrin in pre-eclamptic Sudanese women compared to healthy pregnant ladies.

Materials and Methods: in this study 50 pre-eclamptic pregnant women in addition to 30 healthy pregnant ladies matched for age was enrolled. The study was carried out at Omdurman Midwives Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan. A well-controlled fully automated hemoanalyzer was used for complete blood picture (CBC). Serum iron and total iron binding capacity were measured using Ferrozine method via semi-automatic chemistry analyzer. Serum ferritin levels was measured using the AIA-PACK two-site immuno enzyme-metric assay. All the study group were Sudanese.

Results: Serum iron in pre-eclamptic women was (140.6±51.3mg/dl), versus (71.7±19.7 mg/dl) in the control group with P-value (0.008). Serum ferritin was (76.7±27.3mg/dl) versus (62.9±28.2 mg/dl) with P-value (0.034). The percentage saturation of transferrin in pre-eclamptic women was (62.5± 28.7%) versus (27.5±5.9%) with P-value (0.034). The total iron binding capacity in pre-eclamptic ladies was (247.6± 57.7mg/dl) versus (270.0± 33.9mg/dl) with P-value (0.047). Hemoglobin was (11.5± 0.84g/dl) versus (12.5±0.62g/dl) with P-value (0.000). No significant variation in the mean age, BMI or urine proteins between the two groups was found.

Conclusion: In Sudanese ladies with pre-eclampsia in Omdurman Midwives Hospital; serum ferritin and percentage saturation of transferrin significantly increase; while serum iron, total iron binding capacity and hemoglobin significantly decrease.