Toddler with very low iron saturation

[greenbeanie]

Does anyone have an infant/toddler with biopsy-confirmed celiac who had very low iron saturation as an early symptom? 

I posted in the “Testing” forum a few weeks about about my 15-month-old who has been on a very low-gluten diet due to first-degree relatives with celiac. He started showing obvious symptoms after a short time of eating a small amount of gluten each day. He ended up getting tTG- IgA and IgG tests, as well as DGP. All were normal, but I know celiac blood tests are unreliable at this age, especially on a low-gluten diet. Further tests showed macrocytic anemia (low hemoglobin, low RBC, high MCV) but normal folate and B12. His hemoglobin was tested three months prior at a well-baby visit and was on the higher side of normal then, so it dropped over 2 points in a short time. It was during this time that he began eating a few bites of wheat each day. He also lost weight, even though he eats a ton and has a healthy, varied diet (including iron-fortified gluten-free cereals, meat, and eggs). Further testing showed iron saturation at 6% (normal is 20-55%), low serum iron, but somewhat high ferritin. All stool tests were normal. 

I am waiting for the doctor to call me to explain the results. I previously felt like I had a good handle on what the bloodwork meant, and I know iron deficiency anemia is a common symptom of celiac. But now I’m unsure what to think because iron deficiency typically causes microcytic (not macrocytic) anemia and involves low ferritin (not high). I can’t find any research on PubMed that addresses this combo. His other bloodwork showed no markers of systematic inflammation or anything else alarming. I’ve read through archived forum posts and found a number of adults with iron saturation very low, but could celiac cause it to develop so quickly in a toddler? 

[Scott Adams]

It sounds like an issue with iron metabolism, but I'm definitely not an expert in that area. Did you find the article below by Ron Hoggan? He also wrote a book on iron metabolism as well (https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Edge-Ron-Hoggan-ED/dp/0973628448):