Yamamoto M, Matsumoto T, Ohmori H, et al. - Researchers sought to determine how serum hepcidin levels and anemia could be impacted by an increased blood flow rate (BFR) during hemodialysis. They enrolled 22 chronic dialysis patients (11 males[50.0 %]; mean [± standard deviation] age, 72 ± 12 years) receiving maintenance hemodialysis treatment, thrice weekly. Participants were observed prospectively for 24 months. Findings showed elevating BFR was related to hemodialysis efficiency, and resulted in decreased inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6, but had no contribution to reduce C-reactive protein. This decreased hepcidin levels, erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) dosage as well as Erythropoietin Resistant Index. There was a significant correlation between hepcidin levels and ferritin concentrations, and it is yet to be determined if decreasing hepcidin results in improved ESA and iron availability during anemia management.