D3.487 - Intersection of Micronutrient Malabsorption Symptoms and Iron Deficiency in a Diet interaction in East African Population

Iron and vitamin D deficiency are mostly understudied and under looked, even though it causes majority of chronic health issues, in East African populations, it is mostly affected but not considered with regional anaemia prevalence in women of reproductive age reaching 34.85%. This study evaluates the hypothesis that dietary transitions toward refined wheat cereals linking up with the ingestion polyphenolic inhibitors that induces subclinical enteropathy and increases intestinal barrier dysfunction, thereby compromising micronutrient bioavailability.3, 4 The objective is to quantify these interactions to inform the development of non-invasive, point-of-care (POC) biomedical diagnostic tools.

A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted (n=95), integrating quantitative primary data with a meta-analysis of regional epidemiological datasets.5, 6 Statistical relevance was validated using power calculations (1-β= 0.80) requiring 98 to 175 participants per cohort.5. The research utilized linear regression models (e.g., β = -2.09, P < 0.001) to characterize the impact of beverage-derived polyphenols on serum ferritin concentrations.

Among 95 East African participants confirmed about 51.6% prevalence of physician-diagnosed iron deficiency, with 89.8% of positive cases occurring in females 9, 10. Almost half (49.5%) reported of consuming tea or coffee immediately after meals which it is a practice known for its non-heme iron absorption by 64%.11, 12 Furthermore, while 49.5% reported reproducible gastrointestinal symptoms after wheat ingestion, yet only 9.5% had undergone formal celiac testing, with 34.22% of individuals falling below the 50 nmol/L threshold.2

These findings suggest that specific dietary reliance on wheat including postprandal polyphenol consumption may provoke to low-grade or impaired micronutrient bioavailability such as enteropathy within in East African cohort.3, 14. Standardizing the LMR sampling window to 2.5–4 hours post-ingestion is recommended to minimize inter-individual variance and enhance the sensitivity of POC diagnostics in for further clinical setting.17, 18. These observation underscore current diagnostic limitations to necessitate the optimization of intestinal permeability assays, specifically the lactulose: mannitol ratio (LMR).15.