Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
Biosci Rep. 2021 Feb 26;41(2). doi: 10.1042/BSR20203352.
Hepcidin is a key iron-regulatory hormone, the production of which is controlled by iron stores, inflammation, hypoxia and erythropoiesis. The regulation of iron by hepcidin is of clinical importance in thalassemia patients in which anemia occurs along with iron overload. The present study aimed to evaluate the correlation between serum hepcidin and ferritin levels in thalassemia patients. This cross-sectional study investigated 64 patients with thalassemia; 16 β-thalassemia major (BTM), 31 β-thalassemia/hemoglobin (Hb) E (BE), and 17 Hb H + AE Bart's disease (Hb H + AE Bart's). The levels of serum hepcidin and ferritin, and Hb of the three groups were measured. The median values of serum ferritin and Hb were significantly different among the three groups, whereas serum hepcidin values were not observed to be significantly different. The correlation of the serum hepcidin and ferritin levels was not statistically significant in any of the three groups of thalassemia patients with BTM, BE, or Hb H + AE Bart's (r = -0.141, 0.065 and -0.016, respectively). In conclusion, no statistically significant correlations were observed between serum hepcidin with any variables including serum ferritin, Hb, age, labile plasma iron (LPI), and number of blood transfusion units among the three groups of thalassemia patients. Likely, the regulation of hepcidin in thalassemia patients is affected more by erythropoietic activity than iron storage.
亚铁调素是一种关键的铁调节激素，其产生受铁储存、炎症、缺氧和红细胞生成的控制。亚铁调素对铁的调节在伴有铁过载的地中海贫血患者中具有重要的临床意义。本研究旨在评估地中海贫血患者血清亚铁调素与铁蛋白水平之间的相关性。这项横断面研究调查了 64 名地中海贫血患者；16 名β-地中海贫血重型（BTM）、31 名β-地中海贫血/血红蛋白（Hb）E（BE）和 17 名 Hb H+AE 巴氏病（Hb H+AE Bart's）。测量了三组患者的血清亚铁调素和铁蛋白以及血红蛋白水平。三组患者的血清铁蛋白和血红蛋白中位数均有显著差异，而血清亚铁调素值无显著差异。在 BTM、BE 或 Hb H+AE Bart's 的三组地中海贫血患者中，血清亚铁调素与铁蛋白水平之间的相关性均无统计学意义（r=-0.141、0.065 和-0.016）。结论：在三组地中海贫血患者中，血清亚铁调素与任何变量（包括血清铁蛋白、血红蛋白、年龄、不稳定血浆铁（LPI）和输血单位数）之间均未观察到统计学显著相关性。亚铁调素在地中海贫血患者中的调节可能更多地受到红细胞生成活性的影响，而不是铁储存。
