Iron deficiency: could a new supplement offer freedom from side effects?

This research was completed on 31 October 2011

Published on 1 June 2010

What's the problem and who does it affect?

Iron deficiency: a major threat to health

Around one in ten pre-school children, one in four school-age children and one in 20 adults in the UK are anaemic because they are deficient in iron.^3-6

Numbers are even higher in developing countries.^3-6 Iron deficiency is in fact the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world.⁷

People who are anaemic due to iron deficiency are more prone to infection, they feel tired and weak, look pale, and find it difficult to concentrate and work effectively. Pregnant women, new mothers and children are most vulnerable. Some sadly lose their lives, normally around the time of childbirth.⁷

Worrying evidence suggests iron deficiency also impairs the physical and intellectual development of young children meaning, for example, that their IQ can be reduced by up to 10 points by the time they reach school age.^8-10

Current treatments are inadequate. Iron supplements tend to cause side effects, such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and irritation of the bowel. Many people find these side effects so unpleasant that they decide not to take their supplement.

What is the project trying to achieve?

Formulating a new iron supplement

The researchers are developing a new iron supplement that they believe resembles the iron forms naturally present in the intestine after we eat our food. They think this approach could reduce the number of side effects people experience when taking iron supplements.

The researchers are synthesising ten different formulations, which all contain iron but differ in their chemical composition. They are testing how well the formulations dissolve in test-tube conditions that mimic the inside of the stomach and intestines before and after a meal. This provides important information on how well the iron formulations are likely to be absorbed into the body.

Another important consideration is how good the iron formulations are at crossing the walls of the intestine and passing into the bloodstream. The researchers are investigating this using human cells.

The researchers are also checking how safe the iron particles are likely to be using standard tests of toxicity on human cells.

By the end of these studies, the researchers hope to have identified the formulation of the new iron supplement that seems to work best in the laboratory.

What are the researchers' credentials?

The project leader, Dr Jonathan Powell, is Head of Biomineral Research at the Medical Research Council’s Collaborative Centre for Human Nutrition Research, a national centre of excellence, which conducts cutting-edge research into the relationship between nutrition and health.

Dr Powell is also Visiting Professor in the School of Medicine at King’s College London and a Fellow of Hughes Hall College, The University of Cambridge.

The research team has considerable expertise in the way iron is absorbed and metabolised, as well as how iron deficiency is diagnosed and treated. The team’s work also focuses on how iron functions within the body, and how a deficiency or excess of iron affects people’s health. The team has a particular interest in developing new iron supplements.
 

Who stands to benefit from this research and how?

A top-ten risk to health

By the end of this project, the researchers hope to have formulated a new iron supplement. The next step would be clinical trials, which would test the supplement’s safety and effectiveness.

The researchers believe that the new supplement would be cheap enough for widespread use. Perhaps even more importantly, they believe it will not cause the troublesome side effects that are common with existing oral iron supplements.

Children and adults who are anaemic due to iron deficiency stand to benefit. Estimates suggest the health of three million children would benefit from an improved iron status in the UK alone.^3-6

The World Health Organization ranks iron deficiency as one of the top ten most important risks to human health.¹ Iron deficiency affects an estimated two billion people and causes almost a million deaths a year.¹ Pregnant women, babies and children are particularly vulnerable to the most harmful effects of iron deficiency. But it causes a susceptibility to infection, tiredness, and difficulties concentrating and working in people of all ages.

It is clear that the need for a new iron supplement, which is cheap, safe and effective, is very great indeed.

References

1. World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2002. Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life. http://www.who.int/whr/2002/en/
2. United States Census Bureau World Population Clock http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html
3. World Health Organization. WHO Global Database on Anaemia, in http://who.int/vmnis/anaemia/data/database/countries/gbr_ida.pdf
4. Adamson EA et al. Prevalence of anaemia in an inner city primary school population. Arch Dis Child 2008; 93(5):453.
5. McLean E, Cogswell M, Egli I, Wojdyla D, de Benoist B. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia, WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1993-2005. Public Health Nutr 2009; 12(4):444-54. Epub 2008 May 23.
6. World Health Organization Global Database on Anaemia. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia 1993-2005. http://www.who.int/vmnis/anaemia/prevalence/en/index.html
7. World Health Organization. Iron Deficiency Anaemia. Assessment, Prevention, and Control. A guide for programme managers. 2001 http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/micronutrients/anaemia_iron_deficiency/WHO_NHD_01.3/en/index.html
8. Grantham-McGregor S and Ani C. A review of studies on the effect of iron deficiency on cognitive development in children. J Nutr 2001; 131(2S-2):649S-666S; discussion 666S-668S.
9. McCann JC and Ames BN. An overview of evidence for a causal relation between iron deficiency during development and deficits in cognitive or behavioral function. Am J Clin Nutr 2007; 85(4):931-45.
10. Lozoff B, Jimenez E, and Smith JB. Double burden of iron deficiency in infancy and low socioeconomic status: a longitudinal analysis of cognitive test scores to age 19 years. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006; 160(11):1108-13.