Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Alabama.
Am J Hematol. 2013 Nov;88(11):976-8. doi: 10.1002/ajh.23519. Epub 2013 Jul 23.
Hepcidin, a small 25 amino acid peptide, has been well established as the iron regulatory hormone. Its expression is upregulated in response to iron and inflammatory cytokines, and downregulated in anemic or hypoxic states. Hepcidin decreases iron export into the plasma by binding to and inducing the degradation of ferroportin, an iron channel located on macrophages and the basolateral surface of enterocytes. This leads to decreased absorption of parental iron by the enterocytes, reduced recycling of erythrocyte iron by macrophages, and increased iron stores in the hepatocytes. Although hepcidin assays are not currently approved for clinical use in the United States, there is much interest in the potential use of this biomarker for management of iron related medical conditions. This review briefly summarizes the current hepcidin test platforms under investigation and the challenges associated with development of a clinical assay for this biomarker. In addition, selected potential future applications hepcidin testing in the clinical setting are addressed.
亚铁调素是一种 25 个氨基酸的小肽，已被充分确认为铁调节激素。其表达水平在受到铁和炎性细胞因子的刺激时会上升，在贫血或缺氧状态下则会下降。亚铁调素通过与位于巨噬细胞和肠上皮细胞基底外侧表面的铁通道蛋白 Ferroportin 结合并诱导其降解，从而减少铁向血浆中的输出。这导致肠上皮细胞对母体铁的吸收减少，巨噬细胞对红细胞铁的再循环减少，以及肝细胞中铁的储存增加。尽管亚铁调素检测目前尚未获得美国临床应用的批准，但人们对该生物标志物在管理与铁相关的医疗状况方面的潜在应用非常感兴趣。本文简要总结了目前正在研究的亚铁调素检测平台，以及开发这种生物标志物的临床检测方法所面临的挑战。此外，还探讨了亚铁调素检测在临床环境中的一些潜在的未来应用。
