title: Oral contraception does not alter typical post-exercise interleukin-6 and hepcidin levels in females.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The post-exercise interleukin-6 (IL-6) and hepcidin response was investigated during the hormone-deplete and hormone-replete phases of an estradiol and progestogen regulated oral contraceptive cycle (OCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Counterbalanced, repeated measures cross-over study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten active female monophasic oral contraceptive pill (OCP) users completed two 40 min treadmill running trials at 75% of their pre-determined peak oxygen uptake velocity (vVO2peak). These trials were randomly performed in two specific phases of the OCC: (a) Day 2-4, representing a hormone-free withdrawal period (D-0); (b) Day 12-14, representing the end of the first week of active hormone therapy (D+7). Venous blood samples were drawn pre-, post- and 3h post-exercise.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both trials, serum IL-6 was significantly elevated (p<0.05) immediately post-exercise, while serum hepcidin was significantly elevated (p<0.05) 3h post-exercise, with no significant differences recorded between trials.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that exercise performed during the different phases (D-0 vs. D+7) of a monophasic OCP regulated cycle does not alter exercise induced IL-6 or hepcidin production. As such, future studies looking to investigate similar variables post-exercise, may not need to 'control' for different phases of the OCC, provided participants are current monophasic OCP users.
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, The University of Western Australia, Australia. Electronic address: marc.sim@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, The University of Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, The University of Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Landers
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Laboratory of Genetic, Endocrine and Metabolic diseases, Radboud University Medical Centre, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dorine W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Swinkels
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Laboratory of Genetic, Endocrine and Metabolic diseases, Radboud University Medical Centre, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Harold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tjalsma
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Fremantle Hospital, Australia.
authors.forename: Bu B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Yeap
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Fremantle Hospital, Australia; Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, Australia.
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trinder
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, The University of Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peeling
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D064451:Hepcidins / Q000097:blood* / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003276:Contraceptives, Oral; D004967:Estrogens; D064451:Hepcidins; D015850:Interleukin-6; D011374:Progesterone
keywords: Iron deficiency; Oestrogen; Progesterone; Running