Background. Iron status in patients with sickle cell anaemia is a matter of continuing investigation. Objective. This paper aims to determine the serum iron status of under-five, sickle cell anaemia patients. Methods. The study spanned from December 2009 to February 2010 at the Consultant Outpatient Clinics involving 97 HbSS subjects and 97 age- and sex-matched HbAA controls. Biochemical iron status was assayed in subjects and controls. Results. Age range of the children was seven months to five years, with a mean of 30.6 (±15.97) months. Irrespective of gender, mean serum iron values were higher in HbAA controls than their HbSS counterparts but the observed difference was not significant ( and 0.111, resp.). The mean total iron binding capacity values of males and females were also not significantly different for sickle cell anaemia subjects and controls ( ). Males and females with HbAA had significantly lower serum ferritin when compared with their HbSS counterparts. Irrespective of gender, mean transferrin saturation was lower in HbSS subjects but the difference was not statistically significant ( ). Conclusion. Children with sickle cell anaemia have higher serum ferritin than controls, implying relatively higher iron content in the reticuloendothelial cells. 1. Introduction Sickle cell anaemia contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality among children in sub-Saharan Africa. Much is known about the disease presentation and end organ manifestation but the iron status in children with Sickle cell anaemia is still a matter of controversy [1]. In children with sickle cell anaemia, chronic haemolysis results in increased availability of iron directly from lysed red cells and also from increased absorption of iron from the gastrointestinal tract [2]. Additionally, the high load of iron provided by multiple blood transfusions [3, 4] would suggest that iron deficiency is unlikely in sickle cell anaemia. However, in some parts of the world, the frequency of blood transfusion among patients is now less as a result of improved management in recent years [5]. Reduced frequency of transfusion implies a reduction in sources of iron and, therefore, increased vulnerability to iron deficiency anaemia. This assertion is buttressed by a study in the USA which suggested that iron deficiency was commoner than expected in untransfused children with sickle cell anaemia [6]. In addition, frequency and need for blood transfusion are not uniform for all children with sickle cell anaemia. Ferritin is a high-molecular-weight protein that contains approximately 20% iron
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