Hypoferremia and Inflammation Among Obese Children and Adolescents

Background: Obesity is associated with hypoferremia, but it is unclear if this condition is caused by insufficient iron stores or diminished iron availability related to inflammation-induced iron sequestration. Objective: 1- To study iron status of obese children and adolescents. 2- To examine relationship between serum iron, obesity and inflammation. Study Design: This study is designed to be a case-control study consisting of 60 obese children and adolescents in the age range 5-19 years having weight for age (z-score) + 2SD to be compared with matching none obese children (weight for age 2SD). Subjects: Convenience sample of 60 obese and 40 non-obese children and adolescents in the age range 5-18 years. Results: Serum iron was lower (58.96±26.5mg/dl Vs. 63.1± 27.9mg/dl, p=0.446) in obese subjects, whereas trans-ferrin receptor (634±213U/ml Vs. 592±173U/ml, p=0.214) and C-reactive protein (7365±3053ng/ml Vs. 1600±2620ng/ml, p=0.000) were higher in obese than non-obese subjects. Obese subjects had a higher prevalence of iron deficiency defined by serum iron (30% Vs. 20% p=0.264) and transferrin receptor (70% Vs. 55%, p=0.126). Abnormally high C-reactive protein was seen in 30% of obese subjects compared to 5% of non-obese individuals. Conclusion: The hypoferremia of obesity appears to be explained both by true iron deficiency and by inflammatory-mediated functional iron deficiency.