THE EFFECT OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA ON OLFACTORY FUNCTION AND MUCOCILIARY CLEARANCE
1Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz Anabilim Dalı, Samsun, Turkey2Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi, İç Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, Samsun, Turkey Objective: Iron is essential for various cellular functions, including enzymatic processes. This study aimed to evaluate olfactory and nasal mucociliary function in patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA).
Materials and Methods: The study included 35 IDA patients (IDA Group) and 24 healthy subjects (Control Group). In order to exclude hormonal effects related to gender and menopause, all individuals in the groups were women between the ages of 18-45. Complete blood count tests of the patients were tested. Subjects were asked to evaluate smell functions a visual analog scale (VAS). The olfactory function was measured with Sniffin' Sticks odor test consisting of three subtests: odor threshold (T), odor discrimination (D), and odor identification (I). Sodium saccharin test was used to measure the mucociliary clearance (MCC) time.
Results: Hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean cell volüme (MCV), and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) values were significantly lower in IDA group than in the control group (p<0.001). There was no difference between the groups in terms of MCC time (p=0.174). IDA group had lower VAS-Smell scores (p=0.012). The mean T, D, I, and TDI scores of the Sniffin" Sticks test were significantly lower in the IDA group (p<0.001, p=0.002, p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively). The linear regression analysis of the independent variables affecting the TDI value was not statistically significant (F=1.334, p=0.271).
Conclusion: In this study, IDA group had significantly worse olfactory function. We thought that olfactory dysfunction in patients with IDA was related to iron deficiency and related enzymatic factors.
Keywords : Anemia, iron deficiency, olfactory dysfunction