title: Serum hepcidin is associated with presence of plaque in postmenopausal women of a general population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Iron and the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin, major determinant of body iron distribution, are hypothesized to play a role in cardiovascular disease. Here, we assess the associations of hepcidin as well as ferritin, iron, total iron-binding capacity, and transferrin saturation (ie, iron parameters) with noninvasive measurements of atherosclerosis in men and women of a population-based cohort.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 766 participants of the Nijmegen Biomedical Study aged 46 to 67 years for whom serum measurements of hepcidin, iron parameters, and noninvasive measurements of atherosclerosis were available. Noninvasive measurements of atherosclerosis were presence of plaque, ankle-brachial index, and intima-media thickness. We performed multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses using quartiles of hepcidin and iron parameters. Analyses were stratified by sex and adjusted for several demographic, clinical, and biochemical determinants, including traditional risk factors of cardiovascular disease based on the Framingham risk score. Hepcidin and the hepcidin/ferritin ratio, reflecting hepcidin expression relative to iron stores, were significantly associated with the presence of plaque in women (adjusted odds ratios for quartile 4 versus quartile 1 [95% confidence intervals] of 3.07 [1.36-6.90] and 2.31 [1.03-5.18], respectively). The hepcidin/ferritin ratio was significantly and negatively associated with ankle-brachial index at rest in men and women (adjusted β for quartile 4 versus quartile 1 [95% confidence intervals] of -0.03 [-0.07 to 0.00] and -0.04 [-0.06 to -0.01], respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the body iron distribution as determined by hepcidin affects the development of atherosclerosis in women.
authors: From the Department for Health Evidence (T.E.G., L.A.L.M.K., S.H.V.), Department of General Internal Medicine, Division of Vascular Medicine (S.H., J.d.G.), Department of Urology (L.A.L.M.K.), and Laboratory of Genetic, Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Laboratory Medicine (D.W.S.), Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors: Tessel E
authors: TE
authors: Galesloot
authors: Suzanne
authors: S
authors: Holewijn
authors: Lambertus A L M
authors: LA
authors: Kiemeney
authors: Jacqueline
authors: J
authors: de Graaf
authors: Sita H
authors: SH
authors: Vermeulen
authors: Dorine W
authors: DW
authors: Swinkels
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood; D006306:Health Surveys; D064451:Hepcidins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood*; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014168:Transferrin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C578702:HAMP protein, human; D064451:Hepcidins; D014168:Transferrin; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron
keywords: atherosclerosis; cardiovascular disease; hepcidin; iron