Trial reportThe American journal of clinical nutrition2024
Prebiotics increase iron absorption and reduce the adverse effects of iron on the gut microbiome and inflammation: a randomized controlled trial using iron stable isotopes in Kenyan infants.
Trial report in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03894358 (Iron Absorption From a Wheat-based Instant Cereal Containing Ferrous Fumarate and Ascorbic Acid With and Without Prebiotics), which is not on this map. Cited by 15 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Iron Absorption From a Wheat-based Instant Cereal Containing Ferrous Fumarate and Ascorbic Acid With and Without Prebiotics: Gut Microbiome and Stable Isotope Studies in Kenyan Infants
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Efficacy of probiotic, prebiotic, and synbiotics supplements in individuals with anemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC gastroenterology · 2024Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Isotopically Measured Iron Absorption in Infants and Children Under 2 Years.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- 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.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- Tissue-resident colon macrophages shape the microbiome and regulate mucosal healing via ferroportin.Cell reports · 2026Article
- A Combination of Inulin and Long-Chain Fructooligosaccharides EnhancesJournal of agricultural and food chemistry · 2026Article
- MENA Delphi consensus on iron deficiency anemia in infants and young children: screening, management, and prevention strategies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Effect of Dietary Fiber Intake on Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Review
- Crosstalk Between Microbiome and Ferroptosis in Diseases: From Mechanism to Therapy.Comprehensive Physiology · 2025Review
- Exploring the gut microbiome's influence on cancer-associated anemia: Mechanisms, clinical challenges, and innovative therapies.World journal of gastrointestinal pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025Article
- Iron and the Intestinal Microbiome.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2025Review
- Intestinal microbiome changes in response to amino acid and micronutrient supplementation: secondary analysis of the AMAZE trial.Gut microbiome (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Galacto-oligosaccharides alone and combined with lactoferrin impact the Kenyan infant gut microbiota and epithelial barrier integrity during iron supplementationMicrobiome research reports · 2025Article
- Measurement of iron absorption and iron gains from birth to 6 months in breastfed and formula-fed infants using iron isotope dilution.Science advances · 2024Article
- Dietary iron intake has long-term effects on the fecal metabolome and microbiome.Metallomics : integrated biometal science · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIron fortificants tend to be poorly absorbed and may adversely affect the gut, especially in African children.
objectiveWe assessed the effects of prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides/fructo-oligosaccharides (GOS/FOS) on iron absorption and gut health when added to iron-fortified infant cereal.
methodsWe randomly assigned Kenyan infants (n = 191) to receive daily for 3 wk a cereal containing iron and 7.5 g GOS/FOS (7.5 g+iron group), 3 g (3-g+iron group) GOS/FOS, or no prebiotics (iron group). A subset of infants in the 2 prebiotic+iron groups (n = 66) consumed 4 stable iron isotope-labeled test meals without and with prebiotics, both before and after the intervention. Primary outcome was fractional iron absorption (FIA) from the cereal with or without prebiotics regardless of dose, before and after 3 wk of consumption. Secondary outcomes included fecal gut microbiota, iron and inflammation status, and effects of prebiotic dose.
resultsMedian (25th-75th percentiles) FIAs from meals before intervention were as follows: 16.3% (8.0%-27.6%) without prebiotics compared with 20.5% (10.4%-33.4%) with prebiotics (Cohen d = 0.53; P < 0.001). FIA from the meal consumed without prebiotics after intervention was 22.9% (8.5%-32.4%), 41% higher than from the meal without prebiotics before intervention (Cohen d = 0.36; P = 0.002). FIA from the meal consumed with prebiotics after intervention was 26.0% (12.2%-36.1%), 60% higher than from the meal without prebiotics before intervention (Cohen d = 0.45; P = 0.007). After 3 wk, compared with the iron group, the following results were observed: 1) Lactobacillus sp. abundances were higher in both prebiotic+iron groups (P < 0.05); 2) Enterobacteriaceae sp. abundances (P = 0.022) and the sum of pathogens (P < 0.001) were lower in the 7.5-g+iron group; 3) the abundance of bacterial toxin-encoding genes was lower in the 3-g+iron group (false discovery rate < 0.05); 4) fecal pH (P < 0.001) and calprotectin (P = 0.033) were lower in the 7.5-g+iron group.
conclusionsAdding prebiotics to iron-fortified infant cereal increases iron absorption and reduces the adverse effects of iron on the gut microbiome and inflammation in Kenyan infants. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03894358.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.