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Hepcidin and other indicators of iron status, by alpha-1 acid glycoprotein levels, in a cohort of Mexican infants

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the changes in iron status indicators at 6 and 12 months of age, controlling by inflammation by measuring alpha-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP). This longitudinal study included 48 healthy-term singleton infants with birth weight ≥ 2500 g, born in hospitals of the Mexican Institute for Social Security. Complete blood count, ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), hepcidin, and AGP were measured in blood at 6 and 12 months of age. sTfR/ferritin ratio and total body iron (TBI) stores were calculated. Hemoglobin and sTfR/ferritin ratio increased with age, while ferritin and TBI decreased. In infants without inflammation, hepcidin, sTfR, and MVC did not show significant changes from 6 to 12 months of age, while ferritin and TBI decreased. In infants with inflammation, hepcidin, TBI, and ferritin levels increased, while hemoglobin and sTfR/ferritin ratio decreased. MVC and sTfR did not change significantly in the presence or absence of inflammation. Hepcidin concentration correlated positively and significantly with ferritin and TBI stores and showed significant negative correlation with sTfR/ferritin ratio. Our study showed that, in absence of inflammation and ID, during the first year of life, physiological changes occur in hemoglobin and ferritin levels as well as in indicators derived from ferritin and sTfR; in contrast, hepcidin and sTfR did not show significant change. However, hepcidin concentration was lower in infants with ID and was higher when inflammation was present, supporting that infants have a functional hepcidin response to changes in iron stores.

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Data availability

The dataset generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Council for Science and Technology–CONACyT, Mexico (Grant Number: SALUD-2014-C01-233164).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infectious Diseases Research Unit, Pediatric Hospital, Mexican Institute for Social Security, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico

    Eugenia Mendoza & Ximena Duque

  2. Gastroenterology Research Laboratory, Mexican Institute for Social Security, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico

    Segundo Moran

  3. Research Unit in Epidemiology and Health Services, Mexican Institute for Social Security, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico

    Gloria Martínez-Andrade

  4. Morphology Department, National School of Biological Sciences, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 01135, Mexico City, Mexico

    Elba Reyes-Maldonado

  5. Research Department of Community Health, Hospital Infantil de México “Federico Gómez”, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico

    Samuel Flores-Huerta

  6. Dirección de Investigación, Hospital Infantil de México “Federico Gómez”, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico

    Homero Martinez

  7. Global Technical Services-NTEAM, Nutrition International, Ottawa, ON, K2P 2K3, Canada

    Homero Martinez

Authors
  1. Eugenia Mendoza
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  2. Ximena Duque
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  3. Segundo Moran
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  4. Gloria Martínez-Andrade
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  5. Elba Reyes-Maldonado
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  6. Samuel Flores-Huerta
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  7. Homero Martinez
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Contributions

Eugenia Mendoza participated in study design, performed laboratory analyses, participated in the interpretation of results, and drafted the manuscript. Ximena Duque participated in study design, performed the statistical analyses, participated in the interpretation of results, and drafted the manuscript. Elba Reyes revised the manuscript for important intellectual content and participated in the interpretation of results. Gloria Martinez revised the manuscript for important intellectual content and participated in the interpretation of results. Segundo Moran participated in the interpretation of results and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. Samuel Flores participated in study design, participated in the interpretation of results, and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. Homero Martinez participated in study design, participated in the interpretation of results, and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ximena Duque.

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Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of Mexican Institute for Social Security.

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Informed consent was obtained from all parents or tutors of infants included in the study, according to the Helsinki declaration.

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Mendoza, E., Duque, X., Moran, S. et al. Hepcidin and other indicators of iron status, by alpha-1 acid glycoprotein levels, in a cohort of Mexican infants. Ann Hematol 100, 879–890 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-021-04402-5

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