Hepcidin assay in serum by SELDI-TOF-MS and other approaches.

Hepcidin, a liver peptide hormone, is the central regulator of iron homeostasis. Hepcidin synthesis is modulated by iron stores, so that iron repletion increases its levels to prevent pathological overload, while iron deficiency strongly inhibits hepcidin to allow an increase in iron absorption from duodenal cells. The emerging pivotal role of hepcidin in iron homeostasis, along with its important links with basic pathways like inflammation, makes the availability of an accurate hepcidin assay as a potentially powerful investigative tool to improve our understanding as well as our diagnostic/prognostic capabilities in many human diseases. There has been a great interest worldwide in developing a reliable and widely applicable assay of the hormone in biological fluids. Being optimal for low-molecular-weight biomarkers, SELDI-TOF-MS has emerged as a valid tool for hepcidin assay. Here we review recent results obtained with this technique, as well as with other Mass Spectrometry-based and immunological methods.