Iron gatekeeper hormone
Hepcidin-mediated iron sequestration
Also searched as Hepcidin-mediated iron sequestration.
The Reason Anemia of Inflammation Exists: inflammation raises hepcidin, hepcidin locks iron away, and oral iron stops working. A low iron reading in an inflamed person is not the same problem as a low iron reading in a healthy one.
In depth
The master iron gatekeeper from the liver. It rises with inflammation and locks iron away — which is why chronic inflammation produces anemia in people whose iron stores are perfectly adequate.
What drives it
Calms body-wide inflammation increases it.
The central mechanism of anemia of inflammation: inflammation raises hepcidin, hepcidin locks iron away. PMC7005133
Inflammation signal (IL-6) increases it.
C. acnes promotes inflammation via TLR2 and TLR4; TLR signals induce NF-kB-dependent expression of NLRP3, pro-IL-18 and pro-IL-1beta. Androgens raise sebum secretion, triggering acne. doi 10.21037/atm-22-1362 · PMC2904443
Liver increases it.
Hepcidin is a hepatic hormone. PMC7005133
Iron status increases it.
Iron loading raises hepcidin - the negative feedback that limits further absorption. PMC7005133
What it drives
It reduces Iron & oxygen carriage.
The mechanism that makes iron supplementation fail: anemia of inflammation is characterized by the insufficient production of erythropoietin and decreased response of erythroid progenitors to EPO. In addition, it inhibits the release of iron from the body stores and alters the iron status after being stimulated by hepcidin. Inflammation locks iron away - so oral iron given into an inflammatory state does not reach the marrow. Anemia affects 1.62 billion people. And the periodontal link is measured: a meta-analysis of sixteen studies on hemoglobin and iron metabolism in periodontitis - though the authors call the association still controversial and ask for larger cohorts. PMID 835510 · PMC7005133
It reduces Gum health.
The one measured finding among them is the periodontal-anemia link: a meta-analysis of sixteen studies on hemoglobin and iron metabolism in periodontitis, whose authors call the association still controversial and ask for larger cohorts. (PMC7005133; doi 10.1152/japplphysiol.00971.2016; PMC12673670). Verbatim: “Our data suggest that nucleotide binding oligomization domain contain2 and hepcidin have important roles in periapical periodontitis severity because they can reduce alveolar bone loss”. doi 10.1152/japplphysiol.00971.2016 · PMID 35764993 · PMC7005133
It reduces Iron status.
iron loading raises hepcidin — the negative feedback that limits further absorption. Hepcidin degrades ferroportin and blocks enteric iron uptake. PMID 835510 · PMC7005133
Blends that modulate it
Each blend page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
See it on the map
Open the causal map to follow this pathway upstream and downstream, arrow by arrow, each with its study.