November 7th Nutrition and Global Health Seminar: Using Iron Stable Isotopes to Develop Safe and Effective Oral Iron Supplementation Programs

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) remains a major public health problems worldwide, especially in young women. Oral iron supplementation can be an effective strategy to treat and prevent IDA, but guidelines vary. Many experts recommend doses of 150-200 mg elemental iron per day, with the dose split through the day. But the fraction of iron absorbed from high doses of oral iron is low, and unabsorbed iron can cause gut inflammation and dysbiosis, and these reduce compliance. Recent studies, using serum hepcidin profiles and stable iron isotopes, have defined more effective oral iron regimens to prevent and treat IDA.