All issues > Volume 43(6); 2000

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 2000;43(6):755-762. Published online June 15, 2000.

Red Blood Cell Indices, Serum Iron and Total Iron Binding Capacity in Children with Helicobacter pylori Infection

Soo Joon SJ Park¹, Chang Han CH Lee¹, Ki Sup KS Chung¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Purpose
: H. pylori infection was recently reported to be associated with unexplained iron-deficiency anemia(IDA) in children and adolescents. H. pylori-related IDA was thought to occur due to GI blood loss, scavenging of iron by H. pylori and iron malabsorption. The aim of this study was to examine how the status of H. pylori infection and age of children affected RBC indices, serum iron level and TIBC.
Methods
: We performed esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and examined RBC indices, serum iron and TIBC on 178 pediatric patients with recurrent abdominal pain. H. pylori infection was assessed by CLO test and silver stain of gastric biopsy specimen.
Results
: H. pylori infection was found in 42 of 178 patients(23.6%). In children with H. pylori infection, the prevalence of iron deficiency(ID) and IDA(39.0% and 10.3%, respectively) was higher than in children without H. pylori infection(29.6% and 4.1%, respectively), but there was no statistically significant difference. Serum iron level was lower(69.5¡¾32.7 vs 77.3¡¾34.1g/dL; P= 0.08) and TIBC was higher(380.8¡¾50.4 vs 366.9¡¾47.0g/dL; P=0.09) in children with H. pylori infection than in children without H. pylori infection. All RBC indices and iron saturation were lower in children with H. pylori infection than in children without H. pylori infection, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. In correlation analysis, serum iron, Hgb, Hct, MCV and MCH were significantly increased by age in children without H. pylori infection (P<0.05), but MCH and MCHC were decreased significantly(P<0.05) by age in children with H. pylori infection. In multiple regression analysis, the change of serum iron, MCH and MCHC by age was significantly influenced by the status of H. pylori infection(P<0.05).
Conclusion
: H. pylori infection decreases RBC indices and serum iron and increases TIBC in children. These changes become prominent as age increases. This age effect may be related to the duration of H. pylori infection.

Keywords :Helicobacter pylori, Iron-deficiency anemia, Recurrent abdominal pain