• Mathias A Emokpae, Emmanuel B Fatimehin, and Progress A Obazelu.
• Department of Medical Laboratory Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
• Afr Health Sci. 2019 Sep 1; 19 (3): 279828052798-2805.

BackgroundMicronutrient deficiency is recognized in sickle cell anaemia (SCA) but it is not known for certain whether changes in zinc, copper and copper-to-zinc ratio are associated with Sickle cell disease severity scores.ObjectiveTo compare serum levels of copper, zinc and copper-to-zinc ratio in SCA subjects with control group and correlate the variables with objective disease severity scores.MethodsSerum copper and zinc were determined in 100 SCA patients and 50 controls using kits supplied by Centronic, Germany. Unpaired Students't-test was used to compare the variables between SCA patients in steady clinical state, vaso-occlusive crisis and controls, while Spearman correlation coefficient was used to associate the parameters with disease severity scores.ResultsSerum copper level was higher (P=0.008) in SCA patients than controls, while serum zinc level was lower (P<0.001) in SCA patients than controls. The copper/zinc ratio was higher (P<0.001) in SCA patients than controls. Significantly higher (P<0.001) copper and lower (P<0.001) zinc levels were observed in patients in vaso-occlusive crisis than in steady clinical state. Zinc correlated inversely (r=-0.2743; P=0.006) while copper-to-zinc ratio correlated positively with disease severity scores.ConclusionCopper-to-zinc ratio may be an indicator of disease severity in SCA patients.© 2019 Emokpae et al.

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