title: Mutual relationship between serum ferroxidase activity and hemoglobin levels in elderly individuals.
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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romani
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trentini
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Science, Section of Internal and Cardiopulmonary Medicine, University of Ferrara, Via Savonarola 9, 44100, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Passaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Science, Section of Internal and Cardiopulmonary Medicine, University of Ferrara, Via Savonarola 9, 44100, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bosi
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bellini
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Le Marche Polytechnic University, Via Tronto 10/A, IT-60126, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: 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. crvcrl@unife.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cervellati
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Science, Section of Internal and Cardiopulmonary Medicine, University of Ferrara, Via Savonarola 9, 44100, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zuliani
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002570:Ceruloplasmin / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D002570:Ceruloplasmin
keywords: Anemia; Ceruloplasmin; Elderly; Ferroxidase; Hemoglobin