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Mutual relationship between serum ferroxidase activity and hemoglobin levels in elderly individuals

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Abstract

The identification of hemoglobin (Hb) biological determinants is of primary clinical interest, in particular in the elderly because of the well-documented relationship between anemia and cognitive and functional decline. Ceruloplasmin (Cp) and non-Cp ferroxidase activity might influence Hb production because of its role in modulating iron mobilization. This potential connection has never been explored so far. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated the possible association between serum ferroxidase activity (sFeOx) and Hb in a sample of 136 apparently healthy older individuals. The results revealed that nonlinear (quadratic) regression explained the relationship between the two variables of interest better than did the linear one (R 2 = 0.09 vs. R 2 = 0.03). The same analysis highlighted a linear behavior for the relationship between Hb and sFeOx, for two separate subsamples stratified on the basis of the Hb value (141 g/L) corresponding to the parabola vertex. In the subset with higher Hb (high Hb), sFeOx was positively associated (r = 0.44, p = 0.003) while in the low Hb subset, the association was negative (r = −0.26, p = 0.01). Notably, we found that the concentration of Cp was significantly higher in Low Hb compared to High Hb subsample (p < 0.05), with this multicopper oxidase selectively contributing to sFeOx in the former group (r = 0.348, p = 0.001). Collectively, this exploratory study suggests that ferroxidases might play a role in dispatching the body’s iron toward erythropoietic tissues, with Cp contribution that might become more important in stress-like conditions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank Monica Squezanti, Manuela Spagnolo, and Juana M Sanz for their meaningful contribution in data collection and elaboration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical and Specialist Surgical Sciences, Section of Medical Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121, Ferrara, Italy

    Arianna Romani, Alessandro Trentini, Tiziana Bellini & Carlo Cervellati

  2. Department of Medical Science, Section of Internal and Cardiopulmonary Medicine, University of Ferrara, Via Savonarola 9, 44100, Ferrara, Italy

    Angelina Passaro, Cristina Bosi & Giovanni Zuliani

  3. Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Le Marche Polytechnic University, Via Tronto 10/A, IT-60126, Ancona, Italy

    Carlo Ferrari

Authors
  1. Arianna Romani
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  2. Alessandro Trentini
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  3. Angelina Passaro
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  4. Cristina Bosi
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  5. Tiziana Bellini
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  6. Carlo Ferrari
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  7. Carlo Cervellati
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  8. Giovanni Zuliani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlo Cervellati.

Ethics declarations

This study conforms to the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) and was conducted according to the guidelines for Good Clinical Practice (European Medicines Agency, http://www.ema.europa.eu). Signed informed consent, which was written in compliance with local and national ethical guidelines, was obtained from each patient prior to the inclusion into the study. Personal data and medical history were collected by a structured interview from participants.

Funding

The study was supported by “Local Research Project” grant from University of Ferrara.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Romani, A., Trentini, A., Passaro, A. et al. Mutual relationship between serum ferroxidase activity and hemoglobin levels in elderly individuals. Ann Hematol 95, 1333–1339 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-016-2709-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-016-2709-8

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