Iron supplementation: oral tablets versus intramuscular injection

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Hematology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Iron deficiency is a prevalent global health issue, particularly among women.
• Restoring iron stores efficiently is crucial for overall health and well-being.
• Oral iron supplementation is common but can be slow to replenish iron levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of intramuscular iron injections versus oral iron tablets in increasing iron stores.
• To determine which supplementation method achieves a faster and greater increase in ferritin levels.
• To evaluate the time course of ferritin level changes over a 30-day period.

Main Methods:

• Non-anemic, iron-depleted women were randomized into two groups: injection group (IG) and oral group (OG).
• The IG received intramuscular injections over 10 days, while the OG received daily oral tablets for 30 days.
• Ferritin concentrations were measured at baseline and at various time points post-supplementation.

Main Results:

• Both groups showed significant increases in ferritin levels from baseline (P < 0.01).
• The injection group (IG) exhibited significantly higher ferritin levels than the oral group (OG) at days 15 and 28 (P < 0.05).
• Intramuscular iron injections led to a more rapid and substantial increase in ferritin levels compared to oral tablets within 30 days.

Conclusions:

• Intramuscular iron injections are a more effective method for rapidly increasing iron stores compared to oral iron tablets.
• Iron injections offer a significant advantage in both the speed and magnitude of ferritin level improvement.
• This study highlights the superior efficiency of iron injections for short-term iron repletion in iron-depleted women.