Differential Gene Expression of Iron Metabolism and Erythropoiesis-Related Genes in Human Erythroblasts: A Bioinformatics Analysis with Relevance to Iron Deficiency Anemia in Pakistan

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency worldwide, with Pakistan reporting a disproportionately high burden among women of reproductive age and children under five. Although IDA is conventionally addressed through dietary and supplementation strategies, the molecular regulation of iron metabolism during erythropoiesis remains underexplored in nutrition research. This study applied a bioinformatics approach to analyze publicly available gene expression data from human erythroblasts (GEO accession GSE22552) using GEO2R differential expression analysis. Comparison of early (CFU-E) and late (Late-E) erythroblast stages identified over 200 significantly differentially expressed genes (adjusted p < 0.05). Key iron metabolism genes, including ALAS2, SLC25A37, HBM, and HMOX1, showed marked differential expression, alongside GDF15, an established clinical biomarker of iron deficiency anemia. These findings provide molecular insight into erythropoietic gene regulation and support the integration of nutritional genomics into strategies addressing iron deficiency anemia in high-burden populations such as Pakistan.