Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a gram positive bacterium that colonizes the gastric mucosa in humans. In children, the presence of H. pylori infection has been linked to under nutrition and growth faltering. In many regions of the world where iron deficiency is common, H. pylori infection is also highly prevalent and epidemiological studies have shown a strong association between H. pylori infection and iron deficiency (ID) in adults. In populations with concurrent high prevalence of ID/IDA and H. pylori, it is important to understand the nature of the interaction on iron absorption and the effect of eradication therapy. In order to clearly understand the effect of H. pylori on iron absorption, it is critical to measure iron absorption in iron replete H. pylori infected children and to then repeat iron absorption measurements following eradication therapy. The same protocol can be carried out in iron deplete H. pylori infected children, for comparison, so that potential masking effects of physiological upregulation of iron absorption can also be studied.
This study aims to measure, using stable isotopes, iron absorption from ferrous fumarate and ferrous sulphate in iron deplete and replete children with H. pylori infection and following eradication therapy.