en Nutrition Nutrition Original Research Original Research <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong><strong>&nbsp; Background: </strong>Low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) have been related to depression and anxiety. It seems that anemia is associated with vitamin D deficiency. We aimed to evaluate the effects of iron-vitamin D co-supplementation versus vitamin D alone on depression scores in anemic females with low levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Methods:</strong> This randomized controlled trial was conducted on eighty premenopausal females who were recruited between May 2015 and October 2015 from primary health care centers. Women with anemia and low concentrations of 25(OH)D were randomized to either 1000 IU/d vitamin D plus 27 mg/d iron (D-Fe) or vitamin D plus placebo supplements (D-P) for 12 weeks. Depressive and anxious symptoms were evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) with subscales 1&ndash;13 and 14&ndash;21 and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). To compare the groups, Mann&ndash;Whitney or chi-squared tests were used and within groups comparison was performed using Wilcoxon signed ranks test. The study was registered on www.clinicaltrial.org as NC 01876563.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Results: </strong>The serum concentrations of 25(OH)D were increased significantly in both groups at the end of the study. In both groups, there was a significant improvement in total BDI, the BDI subscale, and the BAI scores (p<0.001). No differences were found between groups (p>0.05).<br> &nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Although the potential positive effect of vitamin D on mental health was evident, iron plus vitamin D co-supplementation did not demonstrate any significant benefits over vitamin D alone, neither in depression score reduction nor anxiety symptoms.<br> &nbsp;<br> <p></p><p></p> Iron, Vitamin D, Depression, Anxiety, Anemia 386 392 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3042-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammadreza Vafa vafa.m@iums.ac.ir 200319475328460062600 200319475328460062600 No Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, & Pediatric Growth and Development Research Center, Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Fatemeh Azizi-Soleiman fatemehazizi@nutr.mui.ac.ir 200319475328460062601 200319475328460062601 No Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition & Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Seyyed Morteza Kazemi s_m_kazemi@zoho.com 200319475328460062602 200319475328460062602 No Bone, Joint, and Related Tissue Research Center, Akhtar Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Masood Salehi salehi_masoud@yahoo.com 200319475328460062603 200319475328460062603 No Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Farid Zaeri statistician_f@yahoo.com 200319475328460062604 200319475328460062604 No Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Behnaz Abiri dietician60@yahoo.com 200319475328460062605 200319475328460062605 No Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Paramedicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Homa Sadeghi angella2freeman@gmail.com 200319475328460062606 200319475328460062606 No School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Texas Woman’s University, TX 76204, Denton Campus Morteza Safavi dr.mortezasafavi@aol.com 200319475328460062607 200319475328460062607 Yes Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition & Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran