The Association between Hepcidin and Iron Status in Children and Adolescents with Obesity

Ekkarit Panichsillaphakit; Orapa Suteerojntrakool; Chitsanu Pancharoen; Issarang Nuchprayoon; Sirinuch Chomtho

doi:10.1155/2021/9944035

The Association between Hepcidin and Iron Status in Children and Adolescents with Obesity

J Nutr Metab. 2021 Jun 26:2021:9944035. doi: 10.1155/2021/9944035. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Ekkarit Panichsillaphakit^{1

2}, Orapa Suteerojntrakool^{3

4}, Chitsanu Pancharoen⁵, Issarang Nuchprayoon⁶, Sirinuch Chomtho⁴

Affiliations

¹ Division of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
² Division of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Surin Hospital, Surin 32000, Thailand.
³ Ambulatory Division, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
⁴ Pediatric Nutrition Research Unit, Division of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
⁵ Infectious Division, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
⁶ Palliative Care Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.

Abstract

Introduction: Iron deficiency (ID) is the most common nutritional deficiency found in pediatric practice. A higher prevalence of ID may be found in children with obesity. Obesity is a chronic low-grade inflammatory condition. It is postulated that inflammation increases hepcidin, a regulator of iron homeostasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between iron status, hepcidin, and BMI-standard deviation score (BMI-SDS) in children with and without obesity.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of Thai children with obesity (5 to 15 years old) versus age- and sex-matched, nonobese controls was conducted. A total of 63 children with obesity and 27 controls were enrolled. Complete blood count, serum iron, ferritin, transferrin saturation, and total iron binding capacity were analyzed. Serum hepcidin-25 was assayed using a hepcidin ELISA Kit (Human Hepc25).

Results: There were 63 children with obesity, the median age (IQR) being 10 (9-13) years, and 27 controls. The median (IQR) BMI-SDS of the obese group was 2.3 (2.0-2.6) vs. -0.5 ((-1.3)-0.4) of the control group. ID was diagnosed in 27 children in the obese group (42.9%); 4 of the children with obesity and ID had anemia. Serum hepcidin-25 levels of the children with ID vs. without ID in the obese group were not significantly different (median (IQR) 25 (12.9-49.2) and 26.4 (12.6-43.6), respectively) but both of them were significantly higher than controls (19.7 (8.3-25.5) ng/ml, p = 0.04). BMI-SDS was positively correlated with hepcidin-25 (r = 0.28, p = 0.001).

Conclusion: Prevalence of iron deficiency in Thai children with obesity and serum hepcidin-25 was higher than controls. Further study in a larger population, preferably with interventions such as weight loss program, is warranted to clarify this association.