Iron and neurodevelopment in infant

Abstract

Editor, I read the recent publication on iron and neurodevelopment in infant with a great interest [ [1] Kon N. Tanaka K. Sekigawa M. Negishi Y. Yoshikawa N. Hisata K. et al. Association between iron status and neurodevelopmental outcomes among VLBW infants. Brain Dev. 2010; 32: 849-854 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (16) Google Scholar ]. Kon et al. concluded that “Developmental outcome in preterm infants at a corrected age of 18 months may be influenced by nutritional factors, including iron status, during their early life [ [1] Kon N. Tanaka K. Sekigawa M. Negishi Y. Yoshikawa N. Hisata K. et al. Association between iron status and neurodevelopmental outcomes among VLBW infants. Brain Dev. 2010; 32: 849-854 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (16) Google Scholar ]”. I agree that the development in preterm infant might be affected by the iron status. Focusing on the main observation “a positive correlation between the serum level of Fe at 1 month of age and PDI score at 18 months of age [ [1] Kon N. Tanaka K. Sekigawa M. Negishi Y. Yoshikawa N. Hisata K. et al. Association between iron status and neurodevelopmental outcomes among VLBW infants. Brain Dev. 2010; 32: 849-854 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (16) Google Scholar ]”, I have some ideas on this statement. I would like to draw our attention to the condition, thalassemia, which poses the problem of developmental restriction and iron overload [ [2] Luewan S. Srisupundit K. Tongsong T. Outcomes of pregnancies complicated by beta-thalassemia/hemoglobin E disease. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2009; 104: 203-205 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (14) Google Scholar ]. This condition can be the good exception to the proposed observation. The appropriate iron status, not too low and not too high, is important developmental process.