TY - JOUR
T1 - No association between plasma hepcidin levels and restless legs syndrome - results from the Danish Blood Donor Study
AU - Dowsett, Joseph
AU - Didriksen, Maria
AU - Larsen, Margit Hørup
AU - Burgdorf, Kristoffer Sølvsten
AU - Thørner, Lise Wegner
AU - Sørensen, Erik
AU - Erikstrup, Christian
AU - Pedersen, Ole Birger
AU - Ostrowski, Sisse Rye
AU - Ullum, Henrik
N1 - Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - BACKGROUND: Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a neurological sensorimotor disorder that occurs in the evening and night, thereby often impacting quality of sleep in sufferers. The aetiology of RLS is not completely understood although iron dysregulation has been suggested as a likely pathway. The relationship between RLS and the iron regulatory protein hepcidin has not been studied in large cohorts. We aimed to assess whether an association between plasma hepcidin variation and RLS exists in a large cohort of healthy individuals.METHODS: Plasma hepcidin levels were measured in 9708 Danish blood donors from the Danish Blood Donor Study all of whom correctly completed the validated Cambridge-Hopkins RLS-questionnaire for RLS assessment.RESULTS: A total of 466 blood donors were determined as current RLS cases in the sample (4.8%). RLS cases had a significantly higher proportion of females (56.7% vs 46.7%; P < 0.001) and were older (median age [IQR] 40.6 years vs 38.0 years; P = 0.010) than controls. RLS cases were also more frequent smokers (P = 0.004). No significant differences were found in body mass index (BMI), alcohol consumption, time of donation and donation history between cases and controls. No difference in plasma hepcidin levels was observed between RLS cases and controls (median concentration [IQR]: 10.5 ng/ml [6.3-16.4] in RLS cases vs 10.5 ng/ml [6.0-16.5] in controls). Using a logistic regression model, we found that hepcidin levels were not associated with RLS after adjusting for age, sex, alcohol consumption, smoking status, donation time and donation history (OR = 1.00 [0.99-1.02] per 1 ng/ml increase of hepcidin; P = 0.429).CONCLUSION: Our study in Danish blood donors did not find an association between RLS and plasma hepcidin levels. Our findings suggest that plasma hepcidin's role as a potential diagnostic biomarker of RLS is inadequate.
AB - BACKGROUND: Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a neurological sensorimotor disorder that occurs in the evening and night, thereby often impacting quality of sleep in sufferers. The aetiology of RLS is not completely understood although iron dysregulation has been suggested as a likely pathway. The relationship between RLS and the iron regulatory protein hepcidin has not been studied in large cohorts. We aimed to assess whether an association between plasma hepcidin variation and RLS exists in a large cohort of healthy individuals.METHODS: Plasma hepcidin levels were measured in 9708 Danish blood donors from the Danish Blood Donor Study all of whom correctly completed the validated Cambridge-Hopkins RLS-questionnaire for RLS assessment.RESULTS: A total of 466 blood donors were determined as current RLS cases in the sample (4.8%). RLS cases had a significantly higher proportion of females (56.7% vs 46.7%; P < 0.001) and were older (median age [IQR] 40.6 years vs 38.0 years; P = 0.010) than controls. RLS cases were also more frequent smokers (P = 0.004). No significant differences were found in body mass index (BMI), alcohol consumption, time of donation and donation history between cases and controls. No difference in plasma hepcidin levels was observed between RLS cases and controls (median concentration [IQR]: 10.5 ng/ml [6.3-16.4] in RLS cases vs 10.5 ng/ml [6.0-16.5] in controls). Using a logistic regression model, we found that hepcidin levels were not associated with RLS after adjusting for age, sex, alcohol consumption, smoking status, donation time and donation history (OR = 1.00 [0.99-1.02] per 1 ng/ml increase of hepcidin; P = 0.429).CONCLUSION: Our study in Danish blood donors did not find an association between RLS and plasma hepcidin levels. Our findings suggest that plasma hepcidin's role as a potential diagnostic biomarker of RLS is inadequate.
KW - Hepcidin
KW - Restless legs syndrome
KW - RLS
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118331178&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.sleep.2021.10.008
DO - 10.1016/j.sleep.2021.10.008
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34736065
SN - 1389-9457
VL - 88
SP - 68
EP - 73
JO - Sleep Medicine
JF - Sleep Medicine
ER -