Decreased prohepcidin levels in patients with HBV-related liver disease: relation with ferritin levels.
BACKGROUND
Levels of prohepcidin, a homeostatic regulator of iron absorption, are altered in chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis. However, data on the potential alterations of prohepcidin in patients with HBV-related liver disease are scarce. We investigated whether serum prohepcidin is related to iron overload and perenchymal dysfuction in HBV-related liver disease.


METHODS
Three groups of subjects were studied: 66 patients with chronic hepatitis B, 32 patients with HBV-related cirrhosis, and 42 healthy controls without evidence of liver disease. Serum levels of prohepcidin were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


RESULTS
Serum prohepcidin levels were significantly lower in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis (175.85 ± 71.5 ng/ml) than in patients with chronic hepatitis B (209.02 ± 62.7 ng/ml P < 0.05) and controls (222.4 ± 128.4 ng/ml, P < 0.05). After adjustment for potential confounders, prohepcidin was found to be an independent predictor of ferritin levels in multiple linear regression analysis (β = -1.10, t = -3.11, P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
These results demonstrate that prohepcidin levels are reduced in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis and are an independent correlate of serum ferritin.
Department of Gastroenterohepatology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. oyayonal@hotmail.com
Oya
O
Yonal
Filiz
F
Akyuz
Kadir
K
Demir
Sevgi
S
Ciftci
Fahriye
F
Keskin
Binnur
B
Pinarbasi
Ahmet
A
Uyanikoglu
Halim
H
Issever
Sadakat
S
Ozdil
Gungor
G
Boztas
Fatih
F
Besisik
Sabahattin
S
Kaymakoglu
Yilmaz
Y
Cakaloglu
Zeynel
Z
Mungan
Atilla
A
Okten
D000328:Adult; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood*; D064451:Hepcidins; D006801:Humans; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000097:blood*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D064451:Hepcidins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D005293:Ferritins