title: Individuals homozygous for the H63D mutation have significantly elevated iron indexes.
abstract: Our objective was to assess the iron indexes of patients with one or more mutations of the HFE gene with a specific interest in studying the effect of the H63D/H63D genotype. Eight hundred twenty subjects who underwent HFE mutational testing for C282Y and H63D mutations were retrospectively identified. Data collected included age, gender, HFE genotype, and values for serum ferritin, iron saturation, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Compared to the Wild/Wild genotype (0.34 +/- 0.17), genotypes H63D/C282Y (0.44 +/- 0.14 P < 0.01), H63D/H63D (0.51 +/- 0.21 P < 0.01), and C282Y/C282Y (0.64 +/- 0.20 P < 0.01) had significantly higher transferrin saturation levels and were independent predictors of higher iron saturation in multivariate regression analysis. Compared to the Wild/Wild genotype, no abnormal HFE genotypes had significantly higher ferritin levels, although the genotype H63D/H63D was an independent predictor of higher serum ferritin (P = 0.02) in regression analysis. There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with abnormally elevated AST (P = 0.64) or ALT (P = 0.80) between groups. H63D homozygotes have elevated transferrin saturation compared to the Wild genotype, comparable to that of C282Y homozygotes and compound heterozygotes. The clinical significance of this finding is unclear but warrants further study.
authors.affiliation: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Faculty of Medicine, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada A1B 3V6. a75jbs@mun.ca
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Samarasena
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Winsor
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lush
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Duggan
authors.forename: Yagang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borgaonkar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006432:Hemochromatosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D000071020:Hemochromatosis Protein; D006579:Heterozygote; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics*; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000235:genetics*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D009523:Newfoundland and Labrador / Q000453:epidemiology; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: C103673:HFE protein, human; D006680:HLA Antigens; D000071020:Hemochromatosis Protein; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D008565:Membrane Proteins