Increased Level of Serum Hepcidin in Female Adolescent Athletes

Objective: To determine the serum hepcidin concentration and standard hematological parameters in a group of female adolescent athletes, compared with a group of nonathlete females. Design: A case–control study. Setting: A senior high school for athletes in Gothenburg, Sweden. Participants: All female athletes (70), at the school were offered to take part. Fifty-six athletes accepted. From a random sample of age-matched nonathletes, 71 students were recruited to the control group. Main Outcome Measures: Iron deficiency (ID) was determined by levels of serum iron, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin saturation (TS), and ferritin. Serum hepcidin was determined by a mass spectrometry method. All samples were taken at least 12 hours after training. Results: The main result was the finding of a significantly elevated serum hepcidin level in the athlete group, 4.7 nmol/L compared with 3.3 nmol/L (P
Source: Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Brief Report Source Type: research