Iron deficiency anemia in H.pylori pediatric patients and the role of IL-1β

Abstract

Background Helicobacter pylori infection has long been recognized to be the cause of iron deficiency anemia (IDA). However, the data in this study shows that only some of children infected with Helicobacter pylori developed an IDA. The objective was to analyze the correlation between IL-1β levels with the incidence of IDA in children with Helicobacter pylori infection. Methods The study was a cross-sectional in which subjects with Helicobacter pylori infection were examined for IL-1β levels along with the incidence of IDA. The study was carried out for one full year period, started from January 2022 to January 2023, at the H. Adam Malik Hospital in Medan and its affiliation. The subjects in this study were pediatric patients who experienced abdominal pain and range between the ages of 2-18 years old. The entire samples were taken by using consecutive sampling. Subjects’ blood sampling were extracted for IL-1β examination (ELISA) and diagnostic tests of Iron Deficiency Anemia, while the diagnosis of H. pylori infection was done by endoscopy (CLO) Results The subjects consisted of 52 children in which 26 of them have Helicobacter pylori (+) and of those 26 children, 23 had IDA (prevalence ratio 11.5 (95% CI 3.015-43.864). There were indications that patients with H. pylori infection (+) is 11.5 times more likely to develop IDA. The cut-off point for IL-1β levels based on the freqtableuency of IDA in children with H. pylori infection is ≤ 1.3 pg/mL The sensitivity and specificity value of IL-1β levels in predicting IDA was 87% and 66.7% respectively. The positive and negative predictive value was 95.2% and 40% (respectively) with the accuracy level of 84.6 %. Conclusion There is a significant correlation between Helicobacter pylori infection and IDA. Interleukin-1β levels were significantly higher in children infected with H. pylori (+) in comparison to H. pylori (-).