Hematological Parameters, Ferritin and Vitamin B12 in Vegetarians

WANIDA PONGSTAPORN, M.Sc.*, AHNOND BUNYARATAVEJ, Ph.D.**

Affiliation : * Department of Clinical Microscopy, Faculty of Medical Technology, Rangsit University, Pathumthani 12000. ** Blood Disease Diagnosis Center, Sirikit Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital. Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.

AbstractHematological parameters and serum ferritin were compared between 179 vegetarians and 58 control subjects using Hematology analyzer H3 and microparticle enzyme immunoassay, respectively. Serum Vitamin B !2 was also compared between 68 vegetarians and 30 control sub- jects using microparticle enzyme immunoassay. It was found that hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemogolbin concentration, white blood cells, neutro- phils, serum ferritin and serum vitamin B 12 in vegetarian were significantly lower than control subjects (P<0.05). In addition, red cell distribution width and lymphocytes in vegetarians were sig- nificantly higher than control subjects (P<0.05).
There were 34 cases of iron deficiency in 179 vegetarians (19.%) which can be classified to iron depletion (4 cases), iron deficient erythropoiesis (12 cases) and iron deficiency anemia (18 cases). Vitamin B 12 deficiency was found in 27 cases of 68 vegetarians ( 40o/c ).

Keywords : Hematological Parameters, Ferritin, Vitamin B 12, Vegetarians, Iron Deficiency, B 12 Deficiency

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