Assessing the Relationship of Vitamin D with Iron Status in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic intestinal condition with severalnutrition-related comorbidities including anemia and vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D has recently been linked to iron metabolism through down-regulatory effects on hepcidin and hepcidin-stimulatorypro-inflammatory cytokines. It has been proposed that vitamin D may increase bioavailable iron for erythropoiesis and hemoglobin synthesis. We aimed to investigate the association of inflammation, anemia and iron biomarkers with vitamin D levels in pediatric IBD. We obtained cross-sectional data from N=69 IBD patients aged 5 to <19y, in which iron biomarkers [reticulocyte hemoglobincontent (CHr), ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR)], plasma25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), inflammatory biomarkers [C-reactive protein(CRP), α1 acid glycoprotein (AGP), hepcidin] and hemoglobin (Hb) were collected. Multivariable logistic and linear models were used to examine the associations of vitamin D with inflammation, anemia and iron status. ...