A Multicenter Prospective Double Blinded Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of Intravenous Iron (Ferric Derisomaltose (FDI)) in Iron Deficient but not Anemic Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease on Functional Status.

Abstract Background Iron deficiency (ID) is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Intravenous (IV) iron in heart failure leads to improvement in exercise capacity and improvement in quality of life measurements; however, data in patients with CKD are lacking.Methods The Iron and the Heart Study was a prospective double blinded randomized study in non-anemic CKD stages 3b-5 patients with ID which investigated whether 1000 mg of IV iron (ferric derisomaltose (FDI) ) could improve exercise capacity in comparison to placebo measured at 1 and 3 months post infusion. Secondary objectives included effects on hematinic profiles and hemoglobin, safety analysis and quality of life questionnaires (QoL).Results We randomly assigned 54 patients mean (SD) age for FDI (n=26) 61.6 (10.1) years vs placebo (n=28; 57.8 (12.9) years) and mean eGFR (32.1 (9.6) vs. 29.1 (9.6) ml/min/1.73m2) at baseline, respectively. Adjusting for baseline measurements, six-minute walk test (6MWT) showed no statistically significant difference between arms at 1 month (p=0.736), or 3 months (p=0.741). There were non-significant increases in 6MWT from baseline to 1 and 3 months in the FDI arm. Hemoglobin (Hb) at 1 and 3 months remained stable. There were statistically significant increases in ferritin (SF) and transferrin saturation (TSAT) at 1 and 3 months (p<0.001). There was a modest numerical improvement in QoL parameters. There were no adverse events attributable to IV iron. Conclusion This study demonstrated a short-term beneficial effect of FDI on exercise capacity, but it was not significant despite improvements in parameters of iron status, maintenance of Hb concentration, and numerical increases in functional capacity and quality of life scores. A larger study will be required to confirm if intravenous iron is beneficial in iron deficient non-anemic non-dialysis CKD patients without heart failure to improve the 6MWT.Trial Registration: European Clinical Trials Database (EudraCT) No: 2014-004133-16https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/trial/2014-004133-16/GBREC no: 14/YH/1209Date First Registered: 2015-02-17 and date of end of trail 2015-05-23Sponsor ref R1766 and Protocol No: IHI 141