Nutrients (Mar 2022)
Vitamin D Deficiency and Its Association with Iron Deficiency in African Children
- Reagan M. Mogire,
- John Muthii Muriuki,
- Alireza Morovat,
- Alexander J. Mentzer,
- Emily L. Webb,
- Wandia Kimita,
- Francis M. Ndungu,
- Alex W. Macharia,
- Clare L. Cutland,
- Sodiomon B. Sirima,
- Amidou Diarra,
- Alfred B. Tiono,
- Swaib A. Lule,
- Shabir A. Madhi,
- Andrew M. Prentice,
- Philip Bejon,
- John M. Pettifor,
- Alison M. Elliott,
- Adebowale Adeyemo,
- Thomas N. Williams,
- Sarah H. Atkinson
Affiliations
- Reagan M. Mogire
- Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 230, Kilifi 80108, Kenya
- John Muthii Muriuki
- Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 230, Kilifi 80108, Kenya
- Alireza Morovat
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Oxford University Hospitals, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
- Alexander J. Mentzer
- Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
- Emily L. Webb
- Medical Research Council (MRC) International Statistics and Epidemiology Group, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
- Wandia Kimita
- Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 230, Kilifi 80108, Kenya
- Francis M. Ndungu
- Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 230, Kilifi 80108, Kenya
- Alex W. Macharia
- Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 230, Kilifi 80108, Kenya
- Clare L. Cutland
- African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise (Alive), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
- Sodiomon B. Sirima
- Groupe de Recherche Action en Sante (GRAS), Ouagadougou 06 BP 10248, Burkina Faso
- Amidou Diarra
- Groupe de Recherche Action en Sante (GRAS), Ouagadougou 06 BP 10248, Burkina Faso
- Alfred B. Tiono
- Groupe de Recherche Action en Sante (GRAS), Ouagadougou 06 BP 10248, Burkina Faso
- Swaib A. Lule
- Medical Research Council (MRC) International Statistics and Epidemiology Group, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
- Shabir A. Madhi
- South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
- Andrew M. Prentice
- MRC Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Banjul P.O. Box 273, The Gambia
- Philip Bejon
- Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 230, Kilifi 80108, Kenya
- John M. Pettifor
- South African Medical Research Council/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University of the Witwatersrand, R68 Old Potchefstroom Road, Bertsham, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
- Alison M. Elliott
- Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe P.O. Box 49, Uganda
- Adebowale Adeyemo
- Centre for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20891-5635, USA
- Thomas N. Williams
- Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 230, Kilifi 80108, Kenya
- Sarah H. Atkinson
- Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 230, Kilifi 80108, Kenya
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14071372
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 7
p. 1372
Abstract
Vitamin D regulates the master iron hormone hepcidin, and iron in turn alters vitamin D metabolism. Although vitamin D and iron deficiency are highly prevalent globally, little is known about their interactions in Africa. To evaluate associations between vitamin D and iron status we measured markers of iron status, inflammation, malaria parasitemia, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations in 4509 children aged 0.3 months to 8 years living in Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and South Africa. Prevalence of iron deficiency was 35.1%, and prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 0.6% and 7.8% as defined by 25(OH)D concentrations of 75 nmol/L. 25(OH)D concentrations variably influenced individual markers of iron status. Inflammation interacted with 25(OH)D concentrations to predict ferritin levels. The link between vitamin D and iron status should be considered in strategies to manage these nutrient deficiencies in African children.
Keywords