Chapter 1 provides a general introduction while Chapter 2 investigates the relationships between dietary iron intake, disease activity and quality of life (QOL) in patients with IBD. Results indicated that non-haem iron intake was significantly associated with iron requirements for IBD patients but not healthy controls. Interestingly, for iron replete IBD patients, a significant positive correlation between iron intake and disease activity was noted. Correlation between QOL and iron intake was also observed. Chapter 3 investigated the acute effects of a single oral dose of ferrous sulphate on (i) iron absorption into serum and (ii) systemic nontransferrin bound iron (NTBI) generation. It also investigated whether baseline haematinics are an appropriate indicator of iron requirements in IBD subjects. Overall, iron absorption did not differ between IBD patients and healthy controls and both groups showed a similarly significant rise in NTBI following supplementation. However, in healthy controls baseline haematinics predicted iron absorption (i.e. iron requirements) but not in patients with IBD. Chapter 4 reports a laboratory-based investigation on the ability of different organic acids (OA) to alter the precipitation and redissolution properties of insoluble ferric hydroxide. The aim being to identify potential OA’s for use in a novel ferric iron supplement. Results showed that malic acid had significant effects on the precipitation and redissolution of ferric iron and may be efficacious as an iron supplement. Finally, in Chapter 5, <i>in vivo</i> testing of selected iron-organic acid mixtures was undertaken in human volunteers comparing the absorption to ferrous sulphate. Results showed that these were reasonably absorbed, albeit to a lesser extent than ferrous sulphate. Further work could trial these in IBD as side effects should be minimised while at least some iron would be absorbed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:597923 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Cook, W. B. |
| Publisher | University of Cambridge |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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