The Effects of Acute Erythropoietin on Hepcidin and Dietary Iron Absorption Following Military-relevant Exercise in Energy Deficit: Pilot Study (IRON BOOST)

April 1, 2026 updated by: Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Military personnel frequently experience declines in iron status during training and when in the field, which may compromise performance. The overall purpose of this study is to determine why the decline in iron status occurs and potential countermeasures. Participants will be given an acute dose of erythropoietin (EPO) or placebo and will complete a 90-minute load carriage exercise test. Prior to the main trial, this pilot study will determine the optimal approach to assess iron absorption following exercise (red blood cell incorporation or plasma isotope appearance), the percentage of iron incorporated into red blood cells with EPO compared to placebo, and the timing of the intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

6

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Louisiana
      • Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, 70808
        • LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Males and premenopausal females ages 18-45 years
  • Physically active

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Low iron stores (ferritin <15 mg/mL)
  • Anemia (females: hemoglobin < 12 g/dL, males: hemoglobin < 13 g/dL)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Saline placebo
Other: Exercise test
90-minute load carriage exercise test on a treadmill
Experimental: EPO
Recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO)
Other: Exercise test
90-minute load carriage exercise test on a treadmill

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fractional iron absorption
Time Frame: 14 days post-exercise
Iron absorption as measured by iron incorporation into red blood cells
14 days post-exercise
Plasma isotope appearance
Time Frame: 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 360 minutes post-exercise
Plasma iron isotope appearance
0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 360 minutes post-exercise
Red blood cell iron incorporation
Time Frame: 50 minutes infusion of a stable iron isotope following exercise
The calculation to determine dietary iron absorption accounts for the fact that not all absorbed iron is incorporated into red blood cells. This can either be an assumed constant of 80% or experimentally determined by administering a second isotope intravenously. Pilot testing will be used to assess whether the investigators can use 80% or whether iron uptake by red blood cells is greater after EPO compared to placebo.
50 minutes infusion of a stable iron isotope following exercise
Timing of intervention
Time Frame: 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 30 days following EPO
Blood will be collected over time to ensure blood biomarkers return to baseline following EPO.
1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 30 days following EPO

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 4, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2023-082

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Iron Absorption

Clinical Trials on Exercise test

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Argentina

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe