hepcidin

Iron absorption is regulated by circulating hepcidin. Stored samples from a human iron absorption study were used to test the hypothesis that differences in plasma hepcidin explain interindividual variation in iron absorption. Hepcidin-25 concentrations were measured in fasting samples from men recruited to a study investigating the relation between the HFE genotype, iron absorption, and iron status. Log iron absorption was negatively correlated with serum ferritin and with plasma hepcidin but was unaffected by genotype. There was a positive correlation between hepcidin and ferritin. Plasma hepcidin in isolation significantly predicted 36% of the interindividual variation in iron absorption. Plasma hepcidin and serum ferritin concentrations are highly correlated, and, in the normal range of plasma hepcidin values, 36% of interindividual differences in iron absorption are explained by differences in circulating plasma hepcidin.