In the setting of chronic kidney disease patients, it was shown that vitamin D is inversely associated with hepcidin concentrations, and positively associated with hemoglobin and iron concentrations. Importantly, vitamin D has been reported to decrease inflammatory cytokines implicated in the pathophysiology of anemia during inflammation, and suppress expression of hepcidin mRNA. Additionally, oral administration of vitamin D in healthy adult volunteers lowered serum levels of hepcidin by 50% compared to baseline levels within 24 hours and persisted for 72 hours.