Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
BMC Research Notes
Publisher
BioMed Central
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
31005
Abstract
Objective: The association between unbalanced iron indices and the conditions of schizophrenia are not well understood. Liver dysfunction which has been linked to iron metabolism might be a contributing factor. This case–control study evaluated serum iron indices and liver function in treatment-naïve schizophrenia patients and those already on treatment at the Psychiatric Department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi-Ghana.
Results: The mean age of the respondents was 39.6 ± 0.8 years. Increased levels of serum iron, TS, AST, ALT and AST:ALT ratio and lower levels of UIBC, TIBC, Transferrin, and log Ferritin:AST ratio levels were observed among the treatment-naïve group compared to the control. The treatment-naïve and treatment groups showed significantly higher serum AST:ALT ratio, and lower log10ferrtin:AST ratio than the healthy controls. There was a significant correlation between log10ferritin and AST, and log10ferritin and GGT in both treatments (r = 0.343; p = 0.003, and r = 0.502; p = 0.001 respectively) and treatment-naïve groups (r = 0.348; p = 0.002, and r = 0.614; p < 0.001 respectively). Percentage transferrin saturation correlated significantly with GGT only, in the treatment-naïve group (r = 0.667; p < 0.001), and ALT and GGT in the treatment group (r = 0.252; p = 0.030 and r = 0.646; p = 0.014 respectively).
DOI
10.1186/s13104-019-4847-2
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Owiredu, W. K. B. A., Brenya, P. K., Osei, Y., Laing, E. F., Okrah, C. O., Obirikorang, C., ... Donkor, S. (2019). Evaluation of serum iron overload, AST: ALT ratio and log 10 ferritin: AST ratio among schizophrenia patients in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana: a case–control study. BMC Research Notes, 12, Article 802. Available here