Anemia of Inflammation

Abstract

Impaired iron homeostasis and the suppressive effects of proinflammatory cytokines on erythropoiesis, together with alterations of the erythrocyte membrane that impair its survival, cause the anemia of inflammation. Recent epidemiologic studies have connected inflammatory anemia with critical illness, obesity, aging, and kidney failure, as well as with cancer, chronic infection, and autoimmune disease. The proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6, the iron regulatory hormone, hepcidin, and the iron exporter, ferroportin, interact to cause iron sequestration in the setting of inflammation. While severe anemia is associated with adverse outcomes in critical illness, experimental models suggest that iron sequestration is part of a natural defense against pathogens. In animal models and human patients, experimental therapeutic approaches targeting interleukin-6 or the ferroportin-hepcidin axis have shown efficacy in reversing anemia, although these agents have not yet been approved for the treatment of the anemia of inflammation.

Risk factors for nosocomial infection among hospitalised severe influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 patients

“…Aging has long been regarded as a contributor to infections on the basis of immunosenescence [40]. However, whether anaemia actually causes increased nosocomial infection or it is merely an additional marker of inflammation [41,42] and malnutrition [43] requires further study. In contrast to previous study [9][10][11][12][13], no comorbidities were confirmed as risk factors of nosocomial infection in our study.…”

Anemia in hospitalized patients: an overlooked risk in medical care

“…The most common form is iron deficiency anemia, with absolute iron deficiency anemia the easiest to diagnose and treat . The second most common is anemia of inflammation (formerly referred to as anemia of chronic disease), which can result from either acute or chronic inflammatory conditions . Cessation of cigarette smoking, which is likely to happen with hospital admission, has also been reported to result in an acute decrease in a patient's measured Hb level …”

The prognostic value of routine preoperative blood parameters in muscle-invasive bladder cancer

“…Preoperative low hemoglobin levels can lead to tumor hypoxia, which promotes tumor growth by stimulating angiogenesis, acquiring genome mutations, and increasing resistance to apoptosis [13,29] and further leads to increased staging and a poor prognosis. On the other hand, it is speculated that tumor-related inflammation may result in the release of various inflammatory factors, which may affect erythropoietin synthesis and lead to the decrease in HGB [30]. Currently, hemoglobin is not commonly used in various risk prediction tools, so the results of this study suggest that we need to improve our understanding of the impact of preoperative anemia or low hemoglobin levels on postoperative survival.…”