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Oral Iron in Children With Chronic Kidney Disease

Pilot Pragmatic Clinical Trial of Oral Iron Therapy in Children With Chronic Kidney Disease

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03991169
Acronym
FeTCh-CKD
Enrollment
40
Registered
2019-06-19
Start date
2019-04-19
Completion date
2028-12-31
Last updated
2025-08-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Chronic Kidney Diseases, Chronic Kidney Insufficiency

Keywords

Anemia, Iron, Children, Chronic kidney disease (CKD), Appetite, Physical activity, Muscle strength

Brief summary

This is a pilot clinical trial of oral iron therapy in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and mild anemia. Eligible children will be randomized into a standard of care (iron sulfate) arm vs. no iron therapy arm for 3 months. The outcomes will include muscle strength, physical activity, and changes in eating behavior, which will be measured at enrollment and at the end of the study period.

Interventions

DRUGFerrous Sulfate

Oral iron will be given in the form of immediate-release iron sulfate, 3-6 mg/kg/day of elemental iron to children with body weight ≤43 kg, and 65 mg of elemental iron (325 mg of iron sulfate) to children with body weight \>43 kg.

Sponsors

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
CollaboratorOTHER
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
1 Years to 21 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Key inclusion criteria: * Age 1-21 years old (muscle strength will be assessed only in children \>3 year old) * Estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) \< 90 ml/min/1.73m2 by bedside Schwartz formula \[height (cm) \*0.413 / serum creatinine (mg/dL)\] * Hemoglobin (Hb) more or equal than 9.0 at the previous clinic visit * Hb less than 11.5 g/dL in children younger than 5 years Hb less than 12.0 g/dL in children 5-12 years Hb \<12.5 g/dL in children 12-15 yrs and females \>15 yrs. Hb \<13.5 g/dL in males \>15 years (all at the previous clinic visit) Children with transferrin saturation ≤ 20% AND serum ferritin ≤ 100 ng/mL will be randomized into one of the arms Key

Exclusion criteria

* Transferrin saturation \<5% * Serum ferritin \< 10 ng/mL * Iron therapy or erythrocyte stimulating agents (erythropoietin) therapy within 3 months prior to randomization * Blood transfusion within 4 months prior to enrollment * Children on hemodialysis * Rapidly deteriorating kidney function or expectation for transplantation or dialysis in less than 3 months * Pregnancy and breast-feeding

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in muscle strength0 and 3 monthsHand-grip strength measured by a dynamometer
Change in the percentage of transferrin saturation in the participants' blood0 and 3 monthsTransferrin saturation is a medical laboratory value, measured as a percentage. It is the value of serum iron concentration divided by the total iron-binding capacity. For instance, a value of 15% means that 15% of iron-binding sites of transferrin are being occupied by iron. Blood will be collected with the venopuncture used for clinically indicated blood tests at routine clinic visits

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in sedentary time0 and 3 monthsSedentary time (in minutes per day) will be measured by actigraphy. Actigraph is a monitor that looks like a wristband or a watch that measures and records body movements throughout the day. Participating children will wear actigraphs for 7 days in the beginning and 7 days at the conclusion of the study.
Change in the percent of skeletal muscle mass0 and 3 monthsPercent of skeletal muscle mass out of body weight will be measured using bio-electrical impedance analysis.
Change in eating behavior0 and 3 monthsAppetite / eating behavior assessed using Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ). It is a parent-report measure comprised of 35 items, each rated as Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always. The answers will be grouped into the domains to assess eating styles of the participating children, such as: Enjoyment of food, Slowness in eating, Emotional under-eating, Food fussiness.
Change in quality of life: PROMIS0 and 3 monthsQuality of life will be assessed in the Fatigue, and Physical Activity domains using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), developed by the National Institutes of Health. PROMIS measures use a T-score metric in which 50 is the mean of a relevant reference population and 10 is the standard deviation (SD) of that population. Higher scores will mean more Fatigue and more Physical Activity respectively.

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactAkeem Noziere, B.S.
akn4001@med.cornell.edu646-962-8313

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026