Hepcidin is cleared from the circulation within 24 hours. Mice received a single dose of radiolabeled hepcidin at time 0. ▦ represents blood hepcidin; ▪, the corresponding urinary hepcidin. The 0.5-hour and 1-hour time points are from the same group of 4 mice. The 2- and 24-hour time points were obtained from 2 independent groups of 4 mice. Means and standard deviations are shown. ^*P < .001 compared with 0.5-hour values, #P = .004 compared with 1-hour values, both by Student t test.