HAIR IRON CONTENT - POSSIBLE MARKER TO COMPLEMENT MONITORING THERAPY OF IRON-DEFICIENCY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES

Measurements of the concentrations of iron in hair from 10 patients wi th chronic inflammatory bowel diseases and from 10 healthy controls sh owed that the iron concentrations were significantly (P <0.05) lower i n patients before iron intake than in consols. Three weeks after begin ning iron treatment, the hair iron concentrations were found to be sig nificantly correlated (r = 0.68; P <0.05) to reticulocyte counts. Chan ges in the hair iron concentrations were accompanied by similar change s in the concentrations of the markers most commonly used to diagnose and monitor iron deficiency. The results suggest that quantification o f hair iron may be useful to complement evaluations of the body iron s tatus.