Iron deficiency among endurance athletes is of major concern for coaches, physicians, and nutritionists. Recently, it has been observed that hepcidin, the master regulator of iron metabolism, was upregulated after exercise and was found to be related to interleukin-6 (IL-6) elevation. In this study performed on noniron deficient and well-trained runners, we observed that hepcidin concentrations remain elevated in response to inflammatory and iron signals despite a 28-days supplementation period with vitamins C (500 mg/day) and E (400 IU/day).
Keywords: Endurance; interleukin‐6; iron deficiency; performance; vitamins.
© 2015 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American Physiological Society and The Physiological Society.