Nutritional Anaemia Flashcards
What is anaemia (according to WHO)?
Condition in which the number of RBCs (and their oxygen carrying capacity) is insufficient to meet the body’s physiologic needs
What does maturation of RBCs need?
Vitamin B12 and folic acid DNA synthesis Iron Haemoglobin Vitamins Erythropoeitin Healthy bone marrow environment
What are the mechanisms of action of anaemia?
Failure of haemoglobin production
Ineffective erythropoeisis
Decreased survival
What does a failure of haemoglobin production cause?
Hypoproliferation and reticulocytopenia
What is reticulocytopenia?
Not enough baby RBCs
What causes ineffective erythropoiesis?
Enough ingredients but wrong instructions
What causes decreased survival of RBCs?
Blood loss
Haemolysis
Reticulocytosis
What does MCV stand for?
Mean cell volume
What does MCV mean?
Average size of RBCs
What does microcytic mean?
Small MCV
What does normocytic mean?
Normal MCV
What does macrocytic mean?
Large MCV
Which anaemias are microcytic?
Iron deficiency
Thalassaemia
Chronic disease anaemia
Which anaemias are normocytic?
Anaemia chronic disease Aplastic Chronic renal failure Bone marrow infiltration Sickle cell disease
Which anaemias are macrocytic?
B12 deficiency Folate deficiency Myelodysplasia Alcohol induced Drug induced Liver disease Myxoedema
Which is the most abundant trace element in the body?
Iron
What is your daily requirement for iron?
Depends on gender and physiological needs
How much iron is absorbed from the duodenum every day?
1-2mg/day
What is plasma transferrin?
Iron transport protein
Where does most of the iron in the body sit?
In RBCs, bone marrow and spleen
How do you loose iron?
Sloughed mucosal cells in the duodenum or menstruation
When does iron regulation happen?
Absorption stage
What are the stable form(s) of iron?
Ferric (3+)
Ferrous (2+)
What mechanism is iron absoption regulated by?
Negative feedback of GI mucosal cells and hepcidin
What is hepcidin?
Iron regulatory protein
How does hepcidin work?
Causes the internalisation and degredation of ferroportin, which decreases iron transfer into the blood plasma from the duodenum
What does iron do in plasma?
Attaches to transferrin and then transported to bone marrow
Binds to transferrin receptors on RBC precursors