Hepcidin is not a marker of chronic inflammation in atherosclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between atherosclerosis, an inflammatory disease and hepcidin, which is reported as an indicator of inflammation.


METHODS
A total of 75 subjects between 40 and 70 years of age were included in the study. The patient group consisted of 40 stable patients who had previously experienced an atherosclerotic event (18 women, 22 men; mean age 56.4+/-7.1 years). There were two control groups. The first control group consisted of 19 healthy subjects (11 women, 8 men; mean age 52.6+/- 7.4 years), while the second group included 16 patients (11 women, 5 men; mean age 56.5+/-9.3 years) with rheumatoid arthritis and anemia (diseased control group). Hepcidin measurement was performed using Hepcidin Prohormone ELISA (Solid Phase Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) test kit.


RESULTS
Mean serum hepcidin levels were 243.2+/-48.8 ng/ml, 374.5+/-86.4 ng/ml, and 234+/-59.9 ng/ml in the patient group, in diseased controls, and in healthy controls, respectively. Hepcidin levels were higher in diseased controls compared to the patient group and healthy controls (p=0.001). There were no significant differences between the patient group and healthy controls.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings did not support the hypothesis that hepcidin levels could be increased in atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases as a marker of chronic inflammation.
Oğuz
Aytekin
A
Department of Internal Medicine, Göztepe Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Uzunlulu
Mehmet
M
Hekim
Nezih
N
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D064451:Hepcidins; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D015415:Biomarkers; C578702:HAMP protein, human; D064451:Hepcidins