Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology
  • Year: 2018
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 3

Transferrin (re3811647) gene polymorphism in iron deficiency anemia in Saudi Arabia

  • Author:
  • Osama Al-Amer1, Atif Abdulwahab A Oyouni2, Mohammed Alshehri2,, Riyadh A Alzaheb3
  • Total Page Count: 6
  • Page Number: 329 to 334

1Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

2Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

3Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

*Corresponding author: Dr Osama Mohammed Al-Amer, Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Email: oalamer@ut.edu.sa

Online published on 16 August, 2018.

Abstract

Iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) is the common type of anemia. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that worldwide, 42% of pregnant women, 30% of non-pregnant women (aged 15 to 50 years), 47% of pre-school children (aged 0 to 5 years), and 12.7% of men older than 15 years are anemic. Iron deficiency accounts for about half the world's anemia. Previous genome wide association studies revealed a number of genetic polymorphisms could be associated with iron status including: rs3811647 (TF), rs7385804 (TFR2), rs235756 (BMP2), and rs4820268 TMPRSS6. The aim of this study to determine the functional polymorphism (rs3811647) of transferrin (TF) gene in iron deficiency anemia in female university students in Saudi Arabia.

A total of 110 female university students of age 18–25 years were selected. Blood samples were obtained from all participants and hematological and biochemical iron status indices were gathered. Genotyping was carried out by ARMS PCR followed by agarose gel electrophoresis, and appreciate statistical analysis.

The genotype distribution of transferrin (rs3811647) region in female university students in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia were 36.66% (AA), 63.33 (GA) and 0% (GG) in iron deficient students compared to 40% (AA), 60% (GA) and 0% (GG) in normal students, in which there is no significant differences in allelic distribution between iron deficiency group and normal group. However, results show transferrin polymorphism was significantly associated with reduced serum iron and reduced serum ferritin.

Our finding suggest that transferrin polymorphism is significantly associated with decreased iron status, but not significantly associated with iron deficiency anemia in Saudi female students in north region of Saudi Arabia.

Keywords

Iron-deficiency anemia (IDA), Transferrin (TF) gene, Anemia, TMPRSS6