title: Hepcidin/Ferritin Quotient Helps to Predict Spontaneous Recovery from Iron Loss following Blood Donation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Iron supplementation is generally recommended for blood donors even though there are inter-individual differences in iron homeostasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ferritin levels of repeat donors were compared with first-time donors, retrospectively. Prospectively, we tested 27 male repeat donors for the following parameters at the day of blood donation as well as 1, 3, 7, 10, and 56 days thereafter: ferritin, hepcidin, transferrin, transferrin receptor, hemoglobin, erythropoietin, reticulocytes, hemoglobin in reticulocyte, twisted gastrulation protein homolog 1, and growth differentiation factor-15.
  
  
  RESULTS
  56 days after blood donation, donors' average ferritin dropped to 55% (range 30-100%) compared to the initial value. Of all tested parameters hepcidin showed the highest and most significant changes beginning 1 day after donation and lasting for the whole period of 56 days. Along with ferritin, there was a high variation in hepcidin levels indicating inter-individual differences in hepcidin response to iron loss. Donors with a hepcidin/ferritin quotient < 0.3 regained 60% of their initial ferritin after 56 days, while those with a quotient ≥ 0.3 reached less than 50%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As hepcidin appears to integrate erythropoietic and iron-loading signals, clinical measurement of hepcidin (together with the hepcidin-ferritin ratio) may become a useful indicator of erythropoiesis and iron kinetics.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Transfusion Medicine, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany; Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics Ulm, German Red Cross Blood Services Baden-Württemberg-Hessen, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lotfi
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics Ulm, German Red Cross Blood Services Baden-Württemberg-Hessen, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kroll
authors.affiliation: MVZ Humangenetik Ulm, Abteilung Laboratoriumsmedizin, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Plonné
authors.affiliation: Institute for Transfusion Medicine, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany; Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics Ulm, German Red Cross Blood Services Baden-Württemberg-Hessen, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jahrsdörfer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Transfusion Medicine, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany; Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics Ulm, German Red Cross Blood Services Baden-Württemberg-Hessen, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schrezenmeier
keywords: Donors; Health research methodology; Hematology; Red cells