ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL MEDICINE 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2020 February;60(2):289-93

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.19.10096-5

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Hepcidin and iron: novel findings for elite female rugby Sevens players

Simone SMITH ¹, Stacy T. SIMS ², Holly THORPE ², Dane BAKER ¹, Jillian HASZARD ¹, Claire BADENHORST ³, Katherine E. BLACK ¹ ✉

¹ Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; ² Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand; ³ School Sport, Exercise and Nutrition, College of Health, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency is a common deficiency disease worldwide with athletes at increased risk.
METHODS: A proposed new mechanism of exercise-induced iron deficiency in athletes involves the iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin, however, there is limited information on this amongst elite athletes. This study describes iron status in elite female rugby Sevens players.
RESULTS: Blood samples were collected at the start and mid-season and analyzed for serum iron, serum ferritin (SF), soluble transferring receptor (sTfR), high sensitivity C-reactive Protein (hsCRP) and hepcidin. Of the 17 players 18% were iron deficient (SF<30 µg/L) with 29-35% of players with sub-optimal iron stores at some point during the study (SF<45 µg/L). Serum hepcidin was strongly correlated with SF (r=0.61, P=0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS: Some elite female rugby Sevens players have sub-optimal iron stores over the course of a season.

KEY WORDS: Hepcidins; Anemia, iron-deficiency; Athletes