IMPE2023 Free Communications Fat, Metabolism and Obesity (4 abstracts)
1Argentine Diabetes Society, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2Hospital Universitario Cruces, UPV/EHU, Biocruces Bizkaia, CIBERDEM, CIBERER, Endocrinology, Bilbao, Spain
Background: Hepcidin is a protein that could be a link between iron and inflammation. Hepcidin sequesters iron, increasing intracellular ferritin, which promotes tissue damage through the cascade-amplified inflammation.
Aim: To determine the association between hepcidin levels with inflammatory markers (PCR, ferritin, Lpa, and neutrophils), and glucose levels in indigenous school children living at 3750 m above sea level.
Method: BMI, glucose, lipids, PCR, hemoglobin, neutrophils, LPa, ferritin, and hepcidin levels were obtained in school children. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the association between hepcidin with glucose and inflammation, adjusted for confounding variables. A comparison of the ability of high hepcidin to correctly identify children with inflammation was performed.
Results: Two hundred and fifty-seven children (116 males) aged 9.9 ± 2.3 y were included. Thirty-one (12.1%) children were underweight, 19(7.5%) overweight, and 7(2.8%) obese. Children were divided according to hepcidin quartiles. As hepcidin quartiles increased, leucocytes, neutrophils, and ferritin increased significantly, whereas glucose decreased. Multiple linear regression analysis using hepcidin as the dependent variable showed that hepcidin was significantly and inversely associated with glucose and directly with LPa, PCR, neutrophils, and ferritin, adjusted for z-BMI and hemoglobin (R2 0.25). A ROC curve using high hepcidin (>III quartile) as the dichotomous variable showed that the AUC was significantly different from 0.5 in PCR, ferritin, and neutrophils ranging from 0.59 to 0.68.
Conclusion: We found that high hepcidin was related to high PCR, ferritin, and neutrophils, but low glucose levels in indigenous children living at high altitudes. Future longitudinal studies should be performed to clarify the potential impact of hepcidin on glucose levels.