International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolismJan 18, 2012

Eight weeks of endurance running and its impact on iron levels, inflammation, and hepcidin in female runners

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Updated Apr 4, 2026

Abstract

Eighteen female long-distance runners showed significant changes in serum hepcidin and soluble transferrin receptor levels after 8 weeks of endurance training.

Soluble transferrin receptor concentrations increased in the second recovery week and post-study compared to baseline.
Hemoglobin levels decreased significantly after the first and second training periods.
Red blood cell counts decreased notably after the second training period.
Hepcidin levels decreased over time in the first post-training measurement compared to baseline and increased in the second training period.
No significant changes were observed in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels throughout the study.

Simplified

Exercise-associated iron deficiency is a common disorder in endurance athletes. The authors investigated the effects of long-term endurance exercise on hepcidin concentrations, inflammatory parameters, and iron status in moderately trained female long-distance runners. Eighteen runners were assigned to either an interval- or a continuous-training exercise group. The physical training consisted of two 3-week progressive overload periods, each followed by a week's recovery, and concluded with a 10- or 21-km competitive run. Samples were taken 6 times during the 8-wk training program, first at baseline (BPre), then after the first and second 3-wk training loads (TPost1, TPost2), after each recovery week (Recovery1 and Recovery2), and poststudy (BPost). Soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) concentrations were increased in Recovery2 and BPost compared with BPre (p=.02), hemoglobin decreased in TPost1 and TPost2 (p<.001), and red blood cells decreased in TPost2 (p=.01). Hepcidin decreased with time in TPost1 and in BPost compared with BPre (p<.001) and increased in TPost2 compared with TPost1 (p<.001). No differences over time were found for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. The main findings of the current study indicate that serum hepcidin and sTfR were affected after 8 weeks of endurance running in women. No positive relation was found with inflammation.

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Eight weeks of endurance running and its impact on iron levels, inflammation, and hepcidin in female runners

Abstract

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