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No cross-sectional and longitudinal association of ferritin and symptoms of attention-deficit-/hyperactivity disorder in a large population-based sample of children: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus studies

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ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders

Abstract

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with alterations in iron metabolism, and low ferritin concentrations in peripheral blood have inconsistently been reported in clinically referred samples of children with ADHD. This study examined whether higher peripheral concentrations of ferritin, the major iron storage protein, are associated with decreased symptoms of ADHD in 2,805 children aged 10 years participating in two large population-based birth cohorts (GINIplus and LISAplus). Whether high ferritin concentrations at age 4 months predict lower ADHD symptoms at age 10 years was also investigated using a longitudinal approach in a subsample of 193 children. No indications for an association between peripheral ferritin concentrations and ADHD symptoms were found in this large population-based study. Re-evaluating iron substitution as a therapeutic measure for ADHD may be warranted.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the families for participation in the studies; the obstetric units for allowing recruitment, the GINI and LISA study teams for excellent work and several funding agencies listed below, and Elaine Fuertes for editorial assistance. The GINI intervention study was funded for 3 years by grants of the Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research, and Technology (Grant No. 01 EE 9401-4), and Helmholtz Zentrum München, and the 6 and 10 years follow-up of the GINIplus study was funded by Helmholtz Zentrum München and in addition partly by the Federal Ministry of Environment (IUF, FKZ 20462296). The LISAplus study was funded by Helmholtz Zentrum München, by grants of the Federal Ministry of Environment, (BMU) (for IUF, FKZ 20462296), and Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research, and Technology (No. 01 EG 9705/2 and 01EG9732). The study was further supported by a grant of the Friedrich Baur Foundation.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Clinic of Munich, Nußbaumstr. 5 a, 80336, Munich, Germany

    Marcel Romanos & Gerd Schulte-Körne

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Füchsleinstr. 15, 97080, Würzburg, Germany

    Marcel Romanos & Manfred Gerlach

  3. Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany

    Carla M. T. Tiesler & Joachim Heinrich

  4. Division of Metabolic Diseases and Nutritional Medicine, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Lindwurmstr. 4, 80337, Munich, Germany

    Carla M. T. Tiesler

  5. Division of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Lindwurmstr. 4, 80337, Munich, Germany

    Sibylle Koletzko

  6. Department of Paediatrics, Marien-Hospital Wesel, Pastor-Janßen-Str. 8-38, 46483, Wesel, Germany

    Dietrich Berdel & Andrea von Berg

  7. IUF Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine and Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Auf’m Hennekamp 50, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Barbara Hoffmann

  8. Medical Practice for Paediatrics, Luisenstr. 16, 53604, Bad Honnef, Germany

    Beate Schaaf

  9. Faculty of Medicine, Environmental Medicine and Hygiene, University of Leipzig, Liebigstr. 27, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Olf Herbarth

  10. Department for Environmental Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Irina Lehmann

  11. Department of Paediatrics, Technical University of Munich, Parzivalstraße 16, 80804, Munich, Germany

    Carl-Peter Bauer

  12. Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry, and Molecular Diagnostics, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Leipzig, Liebigstraße 27, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Barbara Stach

Authors
  1. Marcel Romanos
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  2. Carla M. T. Tiesler
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  3. Sibylle Koletzko
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  7. Beate Schaaf
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  13. Gerd Schulte-Körne
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  14. Joachim Heinrich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joachim Heinrich.

Additional information

Marcel Romanos and Carla M. T. Tiesler have contributed equally to this work.

Appendix

Appendix

GINIplus study group

Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Epidemiology, München (Heinrich J, Wichmann HE, Schoetzau A, Mosetter M, Schindler J, Höhnke A, Franke K, Laubereau B, Gehring U, Sausenthaler S, Thaqi A, Zirngibl A, Zutavern A., Schnappinger M, Chen CM); Department of Pediatrics, Marien-Hospital, Wesel (Berdel D, von Berg A, Filipiak-Pittroff B, Albrecht B, Baumgart A, Beckmann C, Büttner S, Diekamp S, Groß I, Jakob T, Klemke K, Kurpiun S, Möllemann M, Varhelyi A,); Department of Pediatrics, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich (Koletzko S, Reinhardt D, Weigand H, Antonie I, Bäumler-Merl B, Tasch C, Göhlert R, Mühlbauer D, Sönnichsen C, Sauerwald T, Kindermann A, Waag M, Koch M); Department of Pediatrics, Technical University, Munich (Bauer CP, Grübl A, Bartels P, Brockow I, Fischer A, Hoffmann U, Lötzbeyer F, Mayrl R, Negele K, Schill E-M, Wolf B, Paschke M); IUF—Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf (Krämer U, Link E, Ranft U, Schins R, Sugiri D, Cramer C); Centre for Allergy and Environment, Technical University, Munich (Behrendt H, Grosch J, Martin F).

LISAplus study group

Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Munich (Heinrich J, Wichmann HE, Sausenthaler S, Chen CM, Schnappinger M); Department of Pediatrics, Municipal Hospital `St.Georg’, Leipzig (Borte M, Diez U), Marien-Hospital Wesel, Department of Pediatrics, Wesel (von Berg A, Beckmann C); Pediatric Practice, Bad Honnef (Schaaf B); Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Department of Environmental Immunology/Core Facility Studies, Leipzig (Lehmann I, Bauer M, Gräbsch C, Röder S, Schilde M); University of Leipzig, Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Leipzig (Herbarth O, Dick C, Magnus J); IUF—Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf (Krämer U, Link E, Cramer C); Technical University Munich, Department of Pediatrics, Munich (Bauer CP, Hoffmann U); ZAUM—Center for Allergy and Environment, Technical University, Munich (Behrendt H).

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Romanos, M., Tiesler, C.M.T., Koletzko, S. et al. No cross-sectional and longitudinal association of ferritin and symptoms of attention-deficit-/hyperactivity disorder in a large population-based sample of children: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus studies. ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord 5, 313–320 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-013-0108-8

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