Abstract

Author(s): Dominguez, Raúl1; Vicente-Campos, Davinia2; Iglesias López, María Teresa2; Renguea, Alina2; Pérez, Margarita3; López Chicharro, José4

Introduction: The sympathetic nervous system modulates many metabolic and hormonal responses to exercise. It is not well known its influence on serum levels of peptide hormone hepcidin, a key iron metabolism regulator, during exercise.

Material and methods: This study examined the effects of exercise intensity on the hepcidin response and treated to relate catecholamine and hepcidin responses to exercise. Fifteen trained cyclists and triathletes undertook a maximal stress test on a cycle ergometer followed by two different intensity tests (moderate and high) in random order. The two tests consisted of 30 min of exercise at an intensity 10% lower than that corresponding to the ventilatory threshold (VT) (30-MI) or the respiratory compensation point (RCP) (30-HI).

Results and discussion: Despite higher norepinephrine levels detected after the 30-MI test versus baseline (p <0.01) and after the 30-HI test versus 30-MI (p <0.01), the hepcidin response was unmodified by the intensity of exercise.

Conclusion: Given we were unable to relate the hepcidin response to an exercise known to elicit high sympatheticadrenal activity, our findings suggest that exercise intensity, and by extension the sympathetic activation, does not modulate the hepcidin response to exercise.