Table 3.
Comparisons of the biochemical and iron metabolism parameters.
| Baseline | 12 weeks | Difference (Δ) between baseline and 12 weeks | p for difference (Δ) between groups | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCO | High-flux | p | MCO | High-flux | p | MCO | High-flux | ||
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 10.6 ± 0.9 | 10.7 ± 1.1 | 0.859 | 10.9 ± 0.9 | 11.0 ± 1.0 | 0.697 | 0.2 (− 0.5, 0.0) | 0.0 (− 0.3, 0.9) | 0.841 |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 4.11 ± 0.38 | 4.06 ± 0.33 | 0.635 | 3.98 ± 0.27 | 4.04 ± 0.33 | 0.450 | − 0.05 (− 0.30, 0.00) | − 0.10 (− 0.20, 0.15) | 0.252 |
| hs-CRP (mg/dL) | 0.11 (0.03, 0.26) | 0.18 (0.05, 0.71) | 0.704 | 0.13 (0.04, 0.46) | 0.22 (0.06, 1.30) | 0.250 | 0.00 (-0.10, 0.17) | 0.06 (− 0.03, 0.78) | 0.161 |
| Ferritin (ng/mL) | 161.1 (70.1, 305.3) | 90.3 (38.6, 205.9) | 0.156 | 123.9 (57.9, 312.2) | 158.1 (59.5, 284.2) | 0.904 | 19.2 ± 173.6 | 19.1 ± 151.7 | 0.998 |
| Iron (μg/dL) | 66.1 ± 25.0 | 59.6 ± 29.8 | 0.410 | 72.1 ± 25.4 | 55.9 ± 25.0 | 0.029 | 2.49 (− 5.9, 15.8) | − 1.6 (− 15.8, 4.0) | 0.131 |
| TIBC (μg/dL) | 221.4 ± 37.8 | 234.8 ± 51.7 | 0.309 | 221.1 ± 46.3 | 227.1 ± 33.9 | 0.607 | − 0.3 ± 36.3 | − 7.7 ± 32.2 | 0.455 |
| TSAT (%) | 30.6 ± 12.3 | 26.1 ± 11.9 | 0.196 | 34.0 ± 15.0 | 25.3 ± 11.9 | 0.031 | − 0.6 (− 4.4, 8.1) | 0.8 (− 8.5, 3.7) | 0.325 |
| ERFE (pg/mL) | 402.5 ± 122.3 | 360.3 ± 136.0 | 0.259 | 438.3 ± 123.0 | 386.0 ± 116.2 | 0.133 | 53.0 (− 38.3, 95.8) | 44.6 (0.8, 73.6) | 0.660 |
| EPO (mU/mL) | 9.5 (6.7, 16.0) | 11.9 (5.0, 18.5) | 0.818 | 10.1 (4.6, 19.9) | 7.9 (5.3, 15.3) | 0.741 | − 2.3 (− 6.5, 6.2) | 0.5 (− 9.5, 3.2) | 0.889 |
| sTfR (nmol/L) | 16.7 (12.8, 23.5) | 17.8 (13.6, 23.7) | 0.617 | 16.4 (11.3, 21.9) | 18.5 (11.1, 23.6) | 0.660 | − 1.4 ± 8.3 | − 1.5 ± 10.1 | 0.981 |
| Hepcidin (ng/mL) | 46.8 ± 36.9 | 32.4 ± 27.3 | 0.128 | 42.1 ± 23.8 | 44.9 ± 26.3 | 0.688 | − 3.5 ± 31.1 | 12.3 ± 27.0 | 0.063 |
| TNF-α (pg/mL) | 17.9 ± 5.0 | 18.0 ± 4.7 | 0.915 | 16.3 ± 3.4 | 19.0 ± 4.8 | 0.027 | − 1.6 ± 4.3 | 1.0 ± 5.7 | 0.079 |
Data are shown as mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range). Difference was analyzed using Student’s t-test for normally distributed variables and Mann-Whiney U test for non-normally distributed variables. Values in bold indicate statistically significant results.
MCO, medium cut-off; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; TIBC, total iron binding capacity; TSAT, transferrin saturation; ERFE, erythroferrone; EPO, erythropoietin; sTfR, soluble transferrin receptor; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-alpha.