Double burden of obesity and iron deficiency

Iron deficiency is still the most common nutritional deficiency and affects millions of people worldwide. At the same time, obesity has become more important also in developing and transition countries. Obesity leads to a state of low-grade, systemic inflammation, which in turn leads to an upregulation of hepcidin. High circulating concentrations of hepcidin, the most important iron regulatory protein, leads to a reduction in iron absorption from diet and iron release from the liver and macrophages. Obese persons are thus potentially at an increased risk for iron deficiency. In our research we have established this association between obesity and iron absorption and are now working on better understanding how to counteract the potential negative consequences.