Table 4.

Characteristics associated with iron malabsorption in IBD children.

Characteristics	Pathological ILT [n = 12]	Normal ILT [n = 31]	p
Mean age [years, range]	12.9±3.6 [2–18]	12.3±3.5 [2–18]	0.6
Gender [n, %]			0.3
Male	4 [33.3]	17 [54.8]
Duration of disease [months]	25.5±29.6 [0–82]	43.8±36.3 [1–113]	0.1
IBD type [n, %]			0.1
CD	6 [50]	10 [32.3]
UC	5 [41.7]	20 [64.5]
IBD-U	1 [8.3]	1 [3.2]
Active disease [n,%]	8 [66.7]	6 [19.4]	0.01
PCDAI/PUCAI ≥ 30 [n, %]	5 [41.7]	1 [3.2]	0.004
Disease activity indexes
PCDAI	17.1±17.4 [0–47.5]	3.7±4.6 [0–10]	0.03
PUCAI	25.8±15.3 [0–40]	7.5±5.1 [0–35]	0.002
Immunosuppressants [n,%]	9 [75]	11 [35.5]	0.03
Laboratory parameters
Haemoglobin, g/dl	11.3±1.5 [9.1–14.5]	12.8±1.5 [8.3–14.9]	0.005
Pre-load sideraemia, µg/dl	29.7±14.4 [13–52]	71.6±31 [18–148]	0.001
Ferritin, ng/ml	46.8±28 [6–99]	36.7±23.9 [10–115]	0.2
Serum hepcidin, nM	4.8±7.8 [0.55–28.5]	2.7±3.9 [0.55–19.2]	0.06
Transferrin, g/l	2.3±0.8 [1.3–4.3]	2.7±0.4 [1.6–3.6]	0.04
Tsat, %	9.9±5.7 [4–21]	19.8±9.5 [3–41]	0.003
STfR, mg/dl	1.8±0.5 [0.8–2.4]	1.9±1.5 [0.9–8.5]	0.8
TIBC, µg/dl	321±51 [220–370]	327.6±78.2 [139–460]	0.8
Reticulocytes,%	2.6±3 [0.8–9]	4.6±3.9 [0.6–9]	0.1
CRP, mg/dl	1.7 [0.2–5.1]	0.4 [0–2.6]	0.001
ESR, mm	16.7±11.4 [5–35]	8.4±9.6 [1–46]	0.02
Calprotectin, µg/g	316 [25–485]	234.1 [30–493]	0.6

All continuous variables values are expressed as means ± standard deviation [range].

CD, Crohn’s disease; CRP, C-reactive protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; IBD-U, inflammatory bowel disease unclassified; PCDAI, Paediatric Crohn’s Disease Activity Index; PUCAI, Paediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index; STfR, soluble transferrin receptor; TIBC, total iron binding capacity; Tsat, transferrin saturation; UC, ulcerative colitis.