Background: Iron deficiency and lipid metabolism disorders are common health problems but the number of published studies investigating lipid alterations in Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) is relatively low and the results of these studies are inconsistent. Some of these studies show that lipid parameters in iron deficient patients are higher in value than those of healthy control patients, whereas others indicate that lipid parameters fall to lower levels in iron deficiency, but improve to normal range following the rise of hemoglobin (Hb) after iron replacement or transfusion. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the changes in serum lipid concentrations that occur in patients of IDA. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out in SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Chennai. Totally 200 subjects, both men and women aged >18yrs [100 patients with IDA (cases) and 100 patients without IDA (controls)] were included in our study and tested for lipid profile. Statistical Analysis: The data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 using Independent samples unpaired‘t’ test. ‘p’ value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The baseline hematological parameters of the IDA patients were found to be significantly different from controls (Table 1). The levels of serum TG and serum VLDL were significantly (P <0.05) higher in the IDA group, whereas the levels TC, LDL and HDL were significantly (P = 0.01) lower in IDA. In our study mean serum TC and LDL levels was statistically significant (P < 0.05) between mild, moderate and severe anemia whereas mean serum TG, HDL, VLDL was not statistically significant. Except LDL in mild and severe anemia there was no significant difference between male and female in other lipid parameters among varying degrees of anemia. Conclusion: We conclude that, serum lipid profile is altered in the presence of IDA. But the role of iron in blood lipid metabolism has received little attention, especially in India, and must be explored to establish if IDA is a contributing factor in the etiology of cardiovascular disease in humans which must be considered seriously and hence all attempts should be made to treat this micronutrient deficiency promptly.

Keywords: Iron Deficiency; Anemia; Serum Lipid Profile.