Treatment with Noripurum EV® is effective and safe in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease and iron deficiency anemia

BODY IRON STATUS INDICATORS AND INFLAMMATION INDICATORS DURING INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE THERAPY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTES

BACKGROUND

The treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of the induction and maintenance remission of the disease. Iron status indicators would be useful for the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia, whereas the inflammation indicators would be for the diagnosis of chronic disease anemia.

OBJECTIVE

To assess body iron status indicators and inflammation indicators during the treatment of IBD, consisted of conventional or infliximab therapy in children and adolescents.

METHODS

A case-control study of a sample of 116 individuals, of which 81 patients with IBD, 18 of them receiving conventional therapy, 20 infliximab therapy, and 43 who were in remission of the disease, and 35 healthy (control group) children and adolescents. Iron status and inflammation indicators were investigated at baseline, and 2 and 6 months of both therapies - conventional and infliximab.

RESULTS

The mean age was 12.1±4.3 years. At baseline, both groups - conventional therapy and infliximab - presented significant differences in most markers studied compared to the control group. After 2 months of conventional therapy, hemoglobin and serum iron levels were lower than those of the control group; and red cells distribution width (RDW), total iron-binding capacity, transferrin receptor/ferritin ratio, and interleukin-6 were higher than the control group. After 2 months of infliximab treatment, hemoglobin and serum iron levels were lower than those of the control group; and RDW, soluble transferrin receptor, soluble transferrin receptor/ferritin ratio, and interleukin-6 were higher than the control group. After 6 months of conventional therapy, hemoglobin and serum iron levels were lower than those of the control group, and RDW and interleukin-6 were higher than those of the control group. After 6 months of infliximab treatment, the hemoglobin and serum iron levels were lower than the control group, and RDW, soluble transferrin receptor, soluble transferrin receptor/ferritin ratio, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and platelets were higher than the control group. Regarding patients under treatment for at least one year (remission group), all markers studied, except transferrin, were similar to the control group.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, there were some contradictions among the different body iron status indicators and inflammation indicators at two and 6 months of treatment with conventional and infliximab therapy, however after one year of treatment, as shown by the remission group, all indicators studied, except transferrin, were similar to healthy children and adolescents.

Iron Sucrose: A Wealth of Experience in Treating Iron Deficiency

Iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in a wide range of conditions. In many patient populations, this can be treated effectively with oral iron supplementation; but in patients who are unable to take or who do not respond to oral iron therapy, intravenous iron administration is recommended. Furthermore, in certain conditions, such as end-stage kidney disease, chronic heart failure, and inflammatory bowel disease, intravenous iron administration has become first-line treatment. One of the first available intravenous iron preparations is iron sucrose (Venofer®), a nanomedicine that has been used clinically since 1949. Treatment with iron sucrose is particularly beneficial owing to its ability to rapidly increase hemoglobin, ferritin, and transferrin saturation levels, with an acceptable safety profile. Recently, important new data relating to the use of iron sucrose, including the findings from the landmark PIVOTAL trial in patients with end-stage kidney disease, have been reported. Several years ago, a number of iron sucrose similars became available, although there have been concerns about the clinical appropriateness of substituting the original iron sucrose with an iron sucrose similar because of differences in efficacy and safety. This is a result of the complex and unique physicochemical properties of nanomedicines such as iron sucrose, which make copying the molecule difficult and problematic. In this review, we summarize the evidence accumulated during 70 years of clinical experience with iron sucrose in terms of efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness.