Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group iron supplementation warning

the issue of iron supplements has come up several times in messages. to summarize, many of us suffer from anemia and are instructed to take or are taking iron supplements. i believe it is important to only take iron supplements if you have tested positive for "iron deficiency anemia". there are many other causes of anemia which are not related to iron deficiency.

if one takes iron supplements without needing it, the iron can wreck havoc on your intestines by promoting bacterial growth and oxidative damage. since AS is likely to originate from the guts, this is truly a bad move.

heres some medline info on the iron supplementation and the negative effectives on the intestines.

-ken

Iron supplementation may aggravate inflammatory status of colitis in a rat model.

Reifen R, Matas Z, Zeidel L, Berkovitch Z, Bujanover Y.

Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Gastroenterology, The E. Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, Israel.

Iron supplementation is one of the principal therapies in inflammatory bowel disease. Iron is a major prooxidative agent; therefore therapeutic iron as well as heme iron from chronic mucosal bleeding can increase the iron-mediated oxidative stress in colitis by facilitating the Fenton reaction, namely production of hydroxyl radicals. In the present study colitis was induced in the iodoacetamide rat model. Forty male Whistar rats were divided into four groups, each group receiving a different diet regimen in parallel with colitis induction: Malondialdehyde was measured to assess the degree of tissue oxidative stress. There were microscopic changes, and significantly more severe colitis was seen in colonic biopsies when iron was supplemented. It was concluded that iron supplementation can amplify the inflammatory response and enhance the subsequent mucosal damage in a rat model of colitis. We suggest that the resultant oxidative stress generated by iron supplementation leads to the extension and propagation of crypt abscesses.

PMID: 10711457 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE


Carrier J, Aghdassi E, Platt I, Cullen J, Allard JP.

Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Iron supplementation may increase disease activity in ulcerative colitis, possibly through the production of reactive oxygen species from the Fenton reaction. AIM: To assess the effects of two doses of oral iron on intestinal inflammation and oxidative stress in experimental colitis. METHODS: Colitis was induced in rats by giving 5% dextran sulphate sodium in drinking water for 7 days. First, using a 2 x 2 factorial design, rats with or without dextran sulphate sodium received the regular diet or a diet containing iron 3%/kg diet. Second, rats with dextran sulphate sodium-induced colitis were supplemented with iron 0.3%/kg diet and compared with rats on dextran sulphate sodium and regular diet. The body weight change, histological scores, colon length, rectal bleeding, plasma and colonic lipid peroxides, colonic glutathione peroxidase and plasma vitamin E and C were measured. Faecal analysis for haem and total, free and ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid-chelatable iron was also performed. RESULTS: Iron 3% and iron 0.3% increased the activity of dextran sulphate sodium-induced colitis, as demonstrated by higher histological scores, heavier rectal bleeding and further shortening of the colon. This was associated with increased lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidant vitamins. Faecal iron available to the Fenton reaction was increased in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: Iron supplementation taken orally enhanced the activity of dextran sulphate sodium-induced colitis and is associated with an increase in oxidative stress.

Ken,
thanks for the info, I'm getting iron shots once a week. The oral tears me up! I do not have a colon, they took it out. 12 years ago. I feel like a test rat because of my GI problems combined with my AS. I keep many doctors guessing. They poop their pants when a xray shows no colon, the xray tech comes running out and grabs the doc! Its the only fun I have with this condition. Well I could talk for hours but.... I'll print this and show to the DOCS it might help them or get them pissed off. Arthur