Controlled, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial of iron protein succinylate in the treatment of iron deficiency in children.

A total of 502 children up to the age of 14 years were treated for iron deficiency or overt anemia. ITF 282 was prescribed to 256 children, and a commercially available ferrous polystyrene sulphonate preparation to 246, in a randomized double-blind, double-dummy, ten-center trial. One oral vial of ITF 282 (60 mg iron) was administered once a day to children weighing up to 40 kg; and twice a day to children with body weight equal or superior to 40 kg. In the reference group, oral vials of polystyrene sulphonate (52.5 mg iron) were administered once a day to children weighing up to 40 kg, and twice a day to children weighing 40 kg or more. Treatments lasted 60 days. The treatments' efficacy and tolerability were evaluated taking into consideration: special hematology, symptomatology, safety hematology and hematochemistry, urinalysis. At the end of treatment, the trend was detected to the normalization of the main hematologic parameters in both groups (hemoglobin, hematocrit, ferritin, blood iron, transferrin saturation, MCHC). Although in the first month the reference treatment appears to provide somewhat faster results, significantly greater values of blood iron are observed at the end of the observation in the ITF 282 group, indicating a more progressive and steady therapeutic effect. The overall clinical rating was, although not significant, in favor of ITF 282, with a failure rate of 18.0 vs 24.0%. The general tolerance, although favorable with both treatments, was significantly more favorable with ITF 282. With this medication, 13 patients complained of 13 events (1 heartburn, 6 constipation, 6 abdominal pain) vs 48 events reported by 43 patients with the reference medication (1 heartburn, 2 epigastric pain, 14 constipation, 14 abdominal pain, 3 skin rash, 14 vomiting). These observations confirm that, although the most modern preparations of ferrous ions exhibit a relatively low frequency of adverse events of limited clinical concern, it is nevertheless possible to decrease (with the use of more "physiologic" preparations in which the iron is reversibly bound to a protein carrier) the prevalence and, tendentially, duration and intensity of such events without prejudice for the clinical efficacy. Therefore, the good clinical tolerability of ITF 282 effectively removed one of the main obstacles to the correct compliance with iron treatments (necessarily to be taken long-term), as reduced the risks of undesired events in a particularly susceptible population subgroup, such as children.