Food, Nutrition and Health, University of British Columbia, 2205 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
Healthy Starts, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, 938 West 28th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
Nutrients. 2021 Jul 9;13(7):2340. doi: 10.3390/nu13072340.
Oral contraceptive use has been associated with decreased menstrual blood losses; thus, can independently reduce the risk of anemia and iron deficiency in women. Manufacturers have recently started to include supplemental iron in the non-hormonal placebo tablets of some contraceptives. The aims of this narrative review are: (i) to describe the relationship between oral contraceptive use and both anemia and iron status in women; (ii) to describe the current formulations of iron-containing oral contraceptives (ICOC) available on the market; and (iii) to systematically review the existing literature on the effect of ICOC on biomarkers of anemia and iron status in women. We discovered 21 brands of ICOC, most commonly including 25 mg elemental iron as ferrous fumarate, for seven days, per monthly tablet package. Our search identified one randomized trial evaluating the effectiveness of ICOC use compared to two non-ICOC on increasing hemoglobin (Hb) and iron status biomarker concentrations in women; whereafter 12 months of contraception use, there were no significant differences in Hb concentration nor markers of iron status between the groups. ICOC has the potential to be a cost-effective solution to address both family planning needs and iron deficiency anemia. Yet, more rigorous trials evaluating the effectiveness of ICOC on improving markers of anemia and iron deficiency, as well as investigating the safety of its consumption among iron-replete populations, are warranted.
口服避孕药的使用与月经血量减少有关；因此，它可以独立降低女性贫血和缺铁的风险。制造商最近开始在一些避孕药的非激素安慰剂片中添加补充铁。本叙述性综述的目的是：（i）描述口服避孕药的使用与女性贫血和铁状态之间的关系；（ii）描述市场上现有的含铁口服避孕药（ICOC）的配方；（iii）系统地综述 ICOC 对女性贫血和铁状态生物标志物影响的现有文献。我们发现了 21 种 ICOC 品牌，最常见的是每月片剂包装中含有 25 毫克元素铁作为富马酸亚铁，连续使用 7 天。我们的搜索确定了一项随机试验，评估了 ICOC 与两种非 ICOC 相比在增加血红蛋白（Hb）和铁状态生物标志物浓度方面的有效性；经过 12 个月的避孕使用，两组之间的 Hb 浓度或铁状态标志物均无显著差异。ICOC 有可能成为一种具有成本效益的解决方案，既能满足计划生育需求，又能解决缺铁性贫血问题。然而，需要进行更严格的试验来评估 ICOC 在改善贫血和缺铁的生物标志物方面的有效性，并研究其在铁充足人群中的安全性。
