BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of anemia in India. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is used in diabetic patients as an index of glycemic control reflecting glucose levels of the previous 3 months. Like blood sugar levels, HbA1c levels are also affected by the presence of variant hemoglobins, hemolytic anemias, nutritional anemias, uremia, pregnancy, and acute blood loss. However, reports on the effects of iron deficiency anemia on HbA1c levels are inconsistent. We conducted a study to analyze the effects of iron deficiency anemia on HbA1c levels and to assess whether treatment of iron deficiency anemia affects HbA1c levels. METHODS: Fifty patients confirmed to have iron deficiency anemia were enrolled in this study. HbA1c and absolute HbA1c levels were measured both at baseline and at 2 months after treatment, and these values were compared with those in the control population. RESULTS: The mean baseline HbA1c level in anemic patients (4.6%) was significantly lower than that in the control group (5.5%, p<0.05). A significant increase was observed in the patients' absolute HbA1c levels at 2 months after treatment (0.29 g/dL vs. 0.73 g/dL, p<0.01). There was a significant difference between the baseline values of patients and controls (0.29 g/dL vs. 0.74 g/dL, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to the observations of previous studies, ours showed that HbA1c levels and absolute HbA1c levels increased with treatment of iron deficiency anemia. This could be attributable to nutritional deficiency and/or certain unknown variables. Further studies are warranted.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency/*blood/drug therapy ; Child ; Female ; Ferritins/blood ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated/*analysis ; Hemoglobins/analysis ; Humans ; Iron/therapeutic use ; Male ; Time Factors

Glycated haemoglobins are haemoglobins with an attached sugar moiety. They constitute the HbA1 fraction of the adult haemoglobin HbA. HbA1c is the predominant fraction of HbA1 and gives an estimate of the blood sugar levels of an individual over the last three months. It has been observed that an HbA1c value of less than seven percent reduces the microvascular complications in diabetic patients. However, HbA1c is not affected by blood sugar levels alone. Apart from blood sugar, there are other factors that affect HbA1c. This article reviews in detail the structure, formation, methods of measurement, factors affecting HbA1c levels and their clinical significance.
Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Glycated Hemoglobin A ; analysis ; metabolism ; Humans