Table 1 Study 1: Baseline characteristics of the iron-depleted children living with virally suppressed HIV and without HIV

From: Iron absorption and loss, and efficacy of iron supplementation with and without prebiotics in children with virally suppressed HIV: three prospective studies in South Africa

 

Children with HIV

Children without HIV

P-value

n

43

45

 

Female/male sex assigned at birth, n (%)

23/20 (54/46)

23/22 (51/49)

0.823

Age, y

11.5 (9.8–12.4)

11.0 (9.6–12.2)

0.512

HIV RNA, copies/mL

<50

-

-

Age at antiretroviral start, y

1 (0–2.5)

-

-

Body-mass-index-for-age Z score

−0.39 ± 1.02

−0.26 ± 1.09

0.570

Underweight, n (%)a

1 (2)

4 (9)

0.361

Overweight, n (%)a

4 (9)

6 (13)

0.739

Height-for-age Z score

−1.38 ± 1.03

−0.68 ± 1.01

0.002

Stunted, n (%)a

13 (30)

6 (13)

0.054

Haemoglobin, g/dL

12.0 ± 1.0

12.5 ± 1.1

0.068

Anaemia, n (%)b

15 (35)

8 (18)

0.068

Ferritin, µg/Lc

16.5 (13.2-24.5)

19.6 (14.4-25.5)

0.415

<15 µg/L, n (%)

14 (33)

12 (27)

0.545

Soluble transferrin receptor, mg/L

7.0 (5.7-8.2)

6.4 (5.4-7.4)

0.029

>8.3 mg/L, n (%)

9 (21)

5 (11)

0.208

Iron deficiency, n (%)d

19 (44)

15 (33)

0.300

Iron deficiency anaemiae, n (%)

10 (23)

5 (11)

0.130

Transferrin saturation, %

18.0 ± 9.5

19.8 ± 7.6

0.353

Serum iron, µg/mL

0.55 (0.38–0.83)

0.58 (0.48–0.74)

0.357

Total iron binding capacity, µg/mL

3.29 (2.93–3.61)

3.24 (3.05–3.42)

0.741

C-reactive protein, mg/L

0.13 (0.02–0.75)

0.03 (0.01–0.05)

0.009

>5 mg/L, n (%)

1 (2)

0 (0)

0.489

α−1-glycoprotein, g/L

0.54 (0.46–0.75)

0.46 (0.39–0.61)

0.021

>1.0 g/L, n (%)

5 (12)

0 (0)

0.025

Inflammation, n (%)f

6 (14)

0 (0)

0.006

Interleukin-6, pg/mL

1.1 (0.8–1.6)

1.3 (0.9–1.9)

0.333

Hepcidin, ng/mL

2.8 (1.8–5.2)

5.1 (3.5–8.0)

0.001

Intestinal fatty acid binding protein, ng/mLg

0.9 (0.5–1.2)

0.6 (0.5–0.9)

0.059

Faecal calprotectin, µg/gg

22.5 (11.5–65.2)

26 (12.5–76.5)

0.669

Faecal pHg

6.9 (6.4–7.2)

7.1 (6.8–7.3)

0.370

  1. Values are medians (IQR), means ± SD, or n (%).
  2. Independent-samples t-tests (two-sided) were used to compare continuous variables (non-normally distributed variables were log-transformed for analysis), and Pearson’s Chi-squared tests (two-sided) or Fisher’s exact tests (two-sided; when expected frequency of sample size was <5) were used to compare categorical variables between the two groups. No adjustments were made for multiple comparisons. Values are shown as either means ± SDs, or as medians (inter-quartile ranges).
  3. aStunting: height-for-age Z-score <−2; underweight: body-mass-index-for-age Z-score (BAZ) ≥−3 and <−2; overweight: BAZ > 1 and ≤29.
  4. bAge <12 years: <11.5 g/dL; age ≥12 years: <12 g/dL10.
  5. cAdjusted for inflammation using BRINDA correction30.
  6. dAdjusted plasma ferritin <15.0 µg/L and/or soluble transferrin receptor >8.3 mg/L.
  7. eIron deficiency and anaemia.
  8. fC-reactive protein >5.0 mg/L and/or α−1-glycoprotein >1.0 g/L.
  9. gAssessed at Day 31 (study endpoint).
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