THE ABSORPTION OF IRON IS DISTURBED IN RECOMBINANT HUMAN ERYTHROPOIETIN-TREATED PERITONEAL-DIALYSIS PATIENTS

Background. Intravenous iron supplementation is often necessary in rec ombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO)-treated haemodialysis (HD) pat ients, but rarely in r-HuEPO-treated peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients . This may be due to differences in iron absorption or blood loss. Met hod. Iron absorption (whole-body counting after ingestion of a radiola belled iron test dose) and iron metabolism were compared in eight iron -replete rHuEPO-treated PD patients (serum ferritin 100-500 mu g/l) an d 68 healthy iron-replete controls (sufficient iron in bone marrow spe cimen). Results. Mucosal uptake (13.4+/-9.8%), mucosal transfer (0.34/-0.18) and iron retention (4.9+/-4.0) in PD patients was significantl y lower than in controls (42.9+/-18.8%, P< 0.0001, 0.63+/-0.18, P< 0.0 001, and 28.0+/-16.7%, P< 0.0001). Conclusion. Iron absorption is impa ired in PD patients, as we have shown previously for HD patients. One reason for higher iron needs in HD patients may be higher blood losses due to the dialysis procedure and blood sampling for laboratory tests .