Relationship between serum iron and the severity of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum iron and the severity of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis.

A total of 209 patients with newly diagnosed and treated hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis admitted to our hospital from January 2021 to June 2024 were selected as the research subjects. The modified computed tomography severity index score was calculated to evaluate the severity of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis. According to the score values, they were divided into the mild group and the moderate-to-severe group. Another 60 healthy individuals during the same period were selected as the control group. The general clinical data of all enrolled subjects, as well as blood routine, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, liver function, kidney function, random blood glucose, serum iron, serum calcium, serum triglyceride levels, modified computed tomography severity index scores, and abdominal computed tomography results, were collected. The differences in baseline data among the three groups were compared, and the correlations between different variables and modified computed tomography severity index scores were analyzed. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to further clarify the relationship between serum iron and modified computed tomography severity index scores.

Among the baseline data comparisons among the three groups, except for hypertension, the differences in the remaining variables among the groups were statistically significant (p<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that blood routine, C-reactive protein, serum triglyceride, and random blood glucose levels were positively correlated with modified computed tomography severity index scores (r=0.601, r=0.492, r=0.604, r=0.432, all p<0.05), while serum iron was negatively correlated with modified computed tomography severity index scores (r=-0.475, p<0.05). The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that in Model 1 and Model 2, serum iron was an independent influencing factor for modified computed tomography severity index scores (B=-0.084, B=-0.076, both p<0.05). In Model 3, after further adjusting for all remaining variables, serum iron was still an independent influencing factor for modified computed tomography severity index scores (B=-0.039, p<0.05), and the D-W value was the best, at 1.765.

There is a certain negative correlation between serum iron and the severity of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis. That is, the lower the serum iron level, the higher the modified computed tomography severity index score, and the more severe the hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis may be.