title: Impaired regulation of serum hepcidin during phlebotomy in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to determine the clinical relevance of hepcidin, a recently identified key iron regulatory hormone, in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (C-HCV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum hepcidin levels were measured in 9 C-HCV patients by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS), and compared to those of healthy controls. Sequential changes of hepcidin were also investigated during phlebotomy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum hepcidin and ferritin were significantly higher in C-HCV than in controls (P = 0.0002), these two variables were strongly related to each other (r = 0.658; P < 0.01), and phlebotomy significantly decreased serum hepcidin in C-HCV (P = 0.0007); all these results recollect the hepcidin response to iron signal. Hepcidin/ferritin ratio, an index of the appropriateness of hepcidin expression relative to iron overload, was significantly lower in C-HCV than in controls (0.33 +/- 0.41 vs. 0.73 +/- 0.36, P = 0.0068). This relative impairment of hepcidin expression was not reversible after phlebotomy (P = NS).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the hepcidin expression responds to iron conditions in C-HCV, this response is relatively limited. This relative impairment of hepcidin expression may be relevant to disease progression, and thus correction of its regulation may be beneficial for these iron-overloaded C-HCV patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Division of Clinical Medicine and Biomedical Science, Institute of Medical Sciences, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie.
authors.forename: Ryosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Naohisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tomosugi
authors.forename: Nagisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Hirohide
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyachi
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeo
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Motoh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwasa
authors.forename: Yoshinao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaito
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takei