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Capturing the onset of the common cold and its effects on iron absorption

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 61, pages 1032–1034 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Hypoferremia is a well-known response to infections and inflammatory disorders. It seems to be managed by the key mediator of iron kinetics, hepcidin. There are several studies on induced-acute phase reactions. However, to our best knowledge there are no previous published reports on the outbreak of a common cold and its initial effect on iron kinetics. The objective of this case report is to describe such an observation. From an apparently healthy state in the morning we observed, in a 28-year-old male, every hour for 6 h the outbreak of a common cold and the modulations in the levels of serum iron (S-Fe) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Despite a 100 mg oral iron loading there was a substantial reduction in S-Fe, which seemed to precede the IL-6 peak. Interestingly, this observed succession is in conflict with the proposed infection chain of order in which IL-6 stimulates hepcidin induction.

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  1. Department of Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Internal Medicine, the Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Gothenburg, Sweden

    M Hoppe & L Hulthén

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  1. M Hoppe
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  2. L Hulthén
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Correspondence to M Hoppe.

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Hoppe, M., Hulthén, L. Capturing the onset of the common cold and its effects on iron absorption. Eur J Clin Nutr 61, 1032–1034 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602614

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