Assessment of Vitamin B12, Folate Levels and some Haematological Parameters among Females on De-Deon syrup in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: There is a disturbing trend with intake of un-prescribed doses of multivitamin syrup as a recovering medication after illness since it is believed to boost blood blood cell production. This study aims to assess the effect of De-Deon haemoglobin syrup on Vitamin B12, Folate Levels and some Haematological Parameters among Females in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Methods: Ten (10) apparently healthy female subjects between the ages of 20 to 30 years were recruited for the study; blood samples were collected via standard vein-puncture technique before administration of the drug; on the fourth (4th) day, after day 3 of drug administration; and after day 6 of drug administration. Vitamin B12, and folate were analyzed using ELISA method; while haematological parameters were determined using Sysmex autoanalyzer. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer database (Version 10.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) for mean, standard deviation, analysis of variance and correlation, p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: showed no significant change (p>0.05) in vitamin B12, folate, red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (HCT) and platelet count before treatment (Day 1), during treatment (day 3) and after treatment (day 6) of De-Deon syrup administration. Correlation analysis of Vitamin B12 against haematological parameters for day, 1, 3, and after day 6 showed significant negative correlation against haemoglobin level (r = 0.6731; p = 0.0373) and statistically significant positive correlation against platelets (r = 0.6731; p = 0.0165) after day 1. Statistically significant positive correlation of vitamin B12 against platelets (r = 0.6795; p = 0.0153) was observed after day 3; no significant statistically significant correlation in levels of vitamin B12 against other haematological parameters were observed. No significant correlation was also observed for folate and haematological parameters after day 1, 3, and 6. Conclusion: The study has therefore revealed that De-Deon syrup of haemoglobin when taken within a short period of time (acute administration), showed no statistically significant effect on vitamin B12, folate and haematological parameters. However, vitamin B12 was increased albeit without any significance. Although no significance was observed in the study, the significant positive correlation between vitamin B12 and platelet count points out the relevance of vitamin B12 supplementation as it is required in the metabolism of every cell of the human body and also a cofactor in DNA synthesis in both fatty acid and amino acid metabolism.