ArticleScientific reports2015
Oral iron acutely elevates bacterial growth in human serum.
Article in Scientific reports, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acknowledging the gap: a systematic review of micronutrient supplementation in infants under six months of age.Wellcome open research · 2020Pooled it
- Hepcidin-guided screen-and-treat interventions for young children with iron-deficiency anaemia in The Gambia: an individually randomised, three-arm, double-blind, controlled, proof-of-concept, non-inferiority trial.The Lancet. Global health · 2023Trial
- Development and evaluating the biopotency of ready to eat liver meat balls in fighting anaemia and vitamin A deficiency, improving selected nutritional biochemical indicators and promoting the cognitive function among mildly anaemic Egyptian children aged 3-9 years.Public health nutrition · 2022Trial
- Hepcidin-guided screen-and-treat interventions against iron-deficiency anaemia in pregnancy: a randomised controlled trial in The Gambia.The Lancet. Global health · 2019Trial
- Micronutrient powder supplements combined with nutrition education marginally improve growth amongst children aged 6-23 months in rural Burkina Faso: A cluster randomized controlled trial.Maternal & child nutrition · 2019Trial
- Impact of fortified versus unfortified lipid-based supplements on morbidity and nutritional status: A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial in ill Gambian children.PLoS medicine · 2017Trial
- Prolonged red cell storage before transfusion increases extravascular hemolysis.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2017Trial
- Trial
- A double blind randomised controlled trial comparing standard dose of iron supplementation for pregnant women with two screen-and-treat approaches using hepcidin as a biomarker for ready and safe to receive iron.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2016Trial
- African-specific genetic loci determine iron status and risk of severe malaria and bacteremia in African children.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Hematological Changes in Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Focus on Anemia, Disease Severity, and Therapeutic Implications.Cureus · 2025Article
- Spatial variations and determinants of vitamin A and iron rich food consumption among Bangladeshi children aged 6-23 months.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Intravenous iron in chronic kidney disease without anaemia but iron deficiency: A scoping review.World journal of nephrology · 2025Review
- ipolygrowth: an R package to calculate individual growth curve parameters from bacterial time series data.Microbiology resource announcements · 2024Article
- Article
- Impact of Iron Supplementation on Hospital Length of Stay for Pneumonia or Skin and Skin Structure Infections: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Hospital pharmacy · 2024Article
- Microbial gene expression analysis of healthy and cancerous esophagus uncovers bacterial biomarkers of clinical outcomes.ISME communications · 2023Article
- An observational and Mendelian randomisation study on iron status and sepsis.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Cell-Specific Regulation of Inflammatory Cytokines and Acute-Phase Proteins by the Glucocorticoid Receptor.Mediators of inflammation · 2023Article
- Safe and effective delivery of supplemental iron to healthy adults: a two-phase, randomized, double-blind trial - the safe iron study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Iron deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency worldwide and routine supplementation is standard policy for pregnant mothers and children in most low-income countries. However, iron lies at the center of host-pathogen competition for nutritional resources and recent trials of iron administration in African and Asian children have resulted in significant excesses of serious adverse events including hospitalizations and deaths. Increased rates of malaria, respiratory infections, severe diarrhea and febrile illnesses of unknown origin have all been reported, but the mechanisms are unclear. We here investigated the ex vivo growth characteristics of exemplar sentinel bacteria in adult sera collected before and 4 h after oral supplementation with 2 mg/kg iron as ferrous sulfate. Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (all gram-negative bacteria) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (gram-positive) showed markedly elevated growth in serum collected after iron supplementation. Growth rates were very strongly correlated with transferrin saturation (p < 0.0001 in all cases). Growth of Staphylococcus aureus, which preferentially scavenges heme iron, was unaffected. These data suggest that even modest oral supplements with highly soluble (non-physiological) iron, as typically used in low-income settings, could promote bacteremia by accelerating early phase bacterial growth prior to the induction of immune defenses.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.