Inflammation in postpartum women is inversely related to transferrin saturation, but is not correlated with ferritin or hepcidin

Abstract

The relationship of inflammation to indicators of iron status in postpartum women is not well documented. We examined associations between markers of iron status (hemoglobin (Hb), ferritin, hepcidin, and transferrin saturation (TfSat)) and inflammation (C‐reactive protein (CRP) and α‐1‐acid glycoprotein (AGP)) in 114 lactating women enrolled in a randomized placebo controlled trial of iron‐containing prenatal vitamin‐mineral supplements. Blood samples were collected before and after 3 mo of supplementation. At baseline (x̄ = 13.8 d postpartum), 58% of women had CRP > 5 mg/L and 78% had AGP > 1 g/L. At the final study visit (n=95; x̄ = 17.3 wk postpartum), these values dropped to 26% and 29%. There were positive correlations between CRP and AGP at the baseline (r=0.66, P<0.0001) and final (r=0.57, P<0.0001) time points. Neither CRP nor AGP was significantly correlated with ferritin or hepcidin at either baseline or final. CRP and AGP were negatively correlated with TfSat at both baseline (r=−0.45, P<0.0001 and r=−0.32, P<0.001) and final (r=−0.43, P<0.0001 and r=−0.34, P<0.001). Hb was negatively correlated with CRP and AGP at baseline (r=−0.32, P<0.001 and r=−0.20, P=0.03), but not at the final time point. In postpartum women, ferritin and hepcidin were not influenced by inflammation, while TfSat decreased with increasing inflammation. Hb was inversely related to inflammation at 2 wk postpartum, but not at 17 wk.Grant Funding Source : Center for Health and Nutrition Research at UC Davis