Serum levels of selected micronutrients in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in clinical remission

Abstract

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can experience micronutrient deficiency regardless of disease activity and extent. We aimed to evaluate serum concentrations of selected trace elements in adult patients with IBD in clinical remission with involvement limited to the colon who received immunosuppressive treatment. We enrolled 32 patients with IBD (mean [SD] age, 41 [15.2] years) and 30 healthy controls (mean [SD] age, 39.1 [11.8] years). Serum selenium, iron, copper, and zinc levels as well as complete blood count were measured in both groups. Patients with IBD had lower zinc concentrations than controls (mean [SD], 0.76 [0.13] mg/l vs 0.83 [0.13] mg/l; P = 0.047). No differences were observed for selenium (mean [SD], 0.90 [0.24] μmol/l vs 0.93 [0.19] μmol/l) and copper levels (mean [SD], 1.03 [0.27] mg/l vs 0.97 [0.22] mg/l). Compared with controls, patients with IBD had lower red blood cell count (mean [SD], 4.4 [0.6] 106/μl vs 4.7 [0.4] 106/μl; P = 0.03), hemoglobin (mean [SD], 12.7 [2.2] g/dl vs 14.3 [0.8] g/dl; P = 0.001), and iron levels (mean [SD], 14.2 [9.4] μmol/l vs 23.4 [2.7] μmol/l; P = 0.0001). Patients with IBD showed a positive correlation between selenium and iron (R = 0.499; P = 0.004) as well as selenium and hemoglobin levels (R = 0.579; P = 0.001). Patients with IBD, despite maintaining clinical remission, should undergo systematic laboratory test for anemia or micronutrient deficiencies.