Reduced levels of hepcidin associated with lower ferritin concentration and increased number of previous donations in periodic blood donors: a pilot study.

Abstract

Hepcidin is one of the major negative regulators of iron balance. Periodic blood donors are highly susceptible to have iron deficiency. Our goal was to evaluate the possible association between serum hepcidin levels and iron homeostasis parameters in periodic blood donors. We enrolled a total of n=39 periodic healthy blood donors (n=24 M and n=15 F). A solid phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure endogenous hepcidin-25 levels in serum biospecimens collected from each study participant. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate possible associations between hepcidin levels and ferritin, transferrin, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC), transferrin saturation (TSAT), and number of previous donations. Reduced serum hepcidin levels significantly correlated with reduced serum ferritin concentration (r = 0.56, IC95%: 0.51-0.60, p < 0.01). A multiple linear regression analysis showed that hepcidin levels were independently and negatively correlated with ferritin (p < 0.01). In addition, the number of previous blood donations was significantly associated with reduced hepcidin levels, independently of the other covariates (p < 0.01). Reduced serum hepcidin levels were significantly associated with reduced levels of ferritin and with increased number of previous donations suggesting its possible clinical role as non-invasive "point-of-care" in predicting iron deficiency among periodic blood donors.