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Toddler with very low iron saturation

greenbeanie
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greenbeanie Enthusiast
greenbeanie
Posted

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? 

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Scott Adams Grand Master
Scott Adams
Posted

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):

 

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