Intravenous iron in inflammatory bowel disease

Table 1 Some characteristics of the different intravenous iron formulations

	Iron gluconate	Iron sucrose	Iron dextran (LMWID)	Ferric carboxymaltose
Complex type	Type III	Type II	Type I	Type I
	Labile and weak	Semi-robust and moderately strong	Robust and strong	Robust and strong
Molecular weight (kDa)	38	43	73	150
Initial distribution volume (L)	6	3.4	3.5	3.5
Plasma half-life (h)	1	6	30	16
Labile iron release	+++	±1	-	-
Direct iron donation to transferrin (% injected dose)	5-6	4-5	1-2	1-2
Test dose required	No	Yes/No3	Yes	No
Maximal single dose (mg)	125	300	TDI	1000
Premedication	No	No	TDI only	No
Life-threatening ADE2 (× 106 doses)	0.9	0.6	11.3	??
Death rate (× 106 doses)2	0.25	0.11	0.78	??

¹If the infusion speed > 4 mg Fe³⁺/min or dose > 7 mg Fe³⁺/kg;

²Data from patients with chronic kidney disease;

³Not required at USA and UK. ADE: Adverse drug events; LMWID: Low molecular weight iron dextran; TDI: Total dose infusion.