Trial of Captafer® vs. Oral Iron Sulfate in the Treatment of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Patients With IBD
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2017-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by chronic
inflammation limited to the mucosal layer of the colon. Anemia is a consistent clinical
feature of IBD. It is encountered in one third of IBD patients, and is the most common
extraintestinal complication of this disease. Anemia has a significant impact on the quality
of life of affected patients. Many patients with IBD frequently complain of chronic fatigue
commonly caused by anemia and this may be as debilitating to patients as abdominal pain and
diarrhea. Anemia in IBD is multifactorial, but is most commonly the result of iron deficiency
anemia (IDA) and rarely due to anemia of chronic disease (ACD). Oral iron supplementation has
been used traditionally for the treatment of IDA but studies have shown that it may result in
disease exacerbation by increasing oxygen free radicals within the lumen of the gut via the
Fenton reaction. A recent study done in University Hospitals Birmingham, United Kingdom, has
shown that treatment with oral iron results in failure to control anemia in 2 out of 3 IBD
patients, which is in part due to the side effects reported by over half of patients.
Captafer is a new iron-free oral preparation that contains a special type of oligosaccharides
from fish muscle tissue able to make the intestine absorb 3 to 5 times more iron in
comparison to the "meat factor". Moreover, Captafer contains other vitamins and supplements
that improve anemia.