Moisés Grimaldi-Puyana

Effects of an Acute Exercise Bout on Serum Hepcidin Levels

Iron deficiency is a frequent and multifactorial disorder in the career of athletes, particularly in females. Exercise-induced disturbances in iron homeostasis produce deleterious effects on performance and adaptation to training; thus, the identification of strategies that restore or maintain iron homeostasis in athletes is required. Hepcidin is a liver-derived hormone that degrades the ferroportin transport channel, thus reducing the ability of macrophages to recycle damaged iron, and decreasing iron availability. Although it has been suggested that the circulating fraction of hepcidin increases during early post-exercise recovery (~3 h), it remains unknown how an acute exercise bout may modify the circulating expression of hepcidin. Therefore, the current review aims to determine the post-exercise expression of serum hepcidin in response to a single session of exercise. The review was carried out in the Dialnet, Elsevier, Medline, Pubmed, Scielo and SPORTDiscus databases, using hepcidin (and “exercise” or “sport” or “physical activity”) as a strategy of search. A total of 19 articles were included in the review after the application of the inclusion/exclusion criteria. This search found that a single session of endurance exercise (intervallic or continuous) at moderate or vigorous intensity (60–90% VO2peak) stimulates an increase in the circulating levels of hepcidin between 0 h and 6 h after the end of the exercise bout, peaking at ~3 h post-exercise. The magnitude of the response of hepcidin to exercise seems to be dependent on the pre-exercise status of iron (ferritin) and inflammation (IL-6). Moreover, oxygen disturbances and the activation of a hypoxia-induced factor during or after exercise may stimulate a reduction of hepcidin expression. Meanwhile, cranberry flavonoids supplementation promotes an anti-oxidant effect that may facilitate the post-exercise expression of hepcidin. Further studies are required to explore the effect of resistance exercise on hepcidin expression.

Flipped learning and formative evaluation in higher education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to design and validate a continuous self-assessment tool that involves university students in reflection processes on their Flipped Learning model learning. Design/methodology/approach For this, 66 students (18.77±1.36) of the first year of the Degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences participated for nine weeks in the weekly completion of a self-assessment tool. The questionnaire followed a content validation by a group of experts and, subsequently, reliability was found from the internal consistency perspective through Cronbach’s α. Findings The results obtained show a reliable tool that facilitates the work by competencies in university education under the Flipped Learning model. Originality/value This work is the first step that responds to the almost non-existent practices of democratic evaluation in Higher Education. The design and validation of questionnaires that consider the measures adopted by the European Higher Education Area and that takes into account European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System is scarce.