Evaluation of iron deficiency in OSMF patients: A cross-sectional study

Oral submucous fibrosis is a type of chronic oral pathological ailment, which is having insidious onset. It possesses high rate of malignant transformation, which gets accentuated by pernicious oral habits like chewing of areca nut in betel. OSMF predisposes to marked hematological abnormalities, leading to anemia and reduction in levels of serum iron and proteins. The aim of this study was to measure the hemoglobin, serum iron and protein levels among OSMF patients and also to compare these parameters with healthy controls.In the hospital-based study, among 100 study subjects, 45 OSMF patients were selected as cases, whereas 55 apparently healthy individuals were chosen as controls. The hemoglobin, serum iron and protein levels were estimated using hematological and biochemical autoanalyzers. Significantly lower levels of hemoglobin, serum iron, and protein levels were observed in OSMF patients in comparison with apparently healthy subjects.Findings of this study focus on the necessity and rationale of assessing hemoglobin, serum iron and protein amongst OSMF patients. These biochemical assessments in the precancerous condition of OSMF may help in early diagnosis and prognosis. Besides that, iron therapy should be initiated at the earliest with the initial diagnosis, which can be helpful to check further deterioration of the aforesaid premalignant condition. Further extensive studies are required for fine delineation of hematological alterations in OSMF patients.