Blood manganese concentration is elevated in iron deficiency anemia patients, whereas globus pallidus signal intensity is minimally affected.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether blood manganese (Mn) concentration is elevated in patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA), and whether this affects signal intensities in the globus pallidus.


METHODS
Twenty-seven patients with IDA and 10 control subjects were tested for blood Mn, and brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) were also examined. Seventeen of the 27 patients were followed-up after iron therapy.


RESULTS
IDA patients had a mean blood Mn concentration of 2.05 +/- 0.44 microg/dl, which was higher than controls. The mean pallidal index (PI) of anemic patients was not different from that of controls. There was a correlation between log blood Mn and PI (rho = 0.384, P = 0.048; n = 27) in IDA patients. None of the patients showed increased signals in the globus pallidus in T1-weighted MRI. Blood Mn levels decreased and hemoglobin levels increased after iron therapy (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Although blood Mn is elevated in IDA patients, there is no increase in globus pallidus MRI signal intensity. These findings stand in contrast to those of our other studies showing patients with chronic liver disease or occupational Mn exposure have elevated signal intensities remarkably.
Kim
Yangho
Y
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, #290-3 Cheonha-Dong, Dong-Ku, Ulsan 682-060, South Korea. yanghokm@nuri.net
Park
Ji Kang
JK
Choi
Younghee
Y
Yoo
Cheol-In
CI
Lee
Choong Ryeol
CR
Lee
Hun
H
Lee
Ji-Ho
JH
Kim
Sung-Ryul
SR
Jeong
Tae-Heum
TH
Yoon
Chung Sik
CS
Park
Jae-Hoo
JH
D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008345:Manganese / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D008345:Manganese; D005293:Ferritins; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase