Serum prohepcidin levels in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases.
OBJECTIVE
One of the major symptoms of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases is anemia. The two most common diseases are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Anemia may develop due to intestinal bleeding, iron absorption disturbances, or high levels of inflammatory cytokines. It is not clear whether or not hepcidin, the only known hormone regulating cellular iron uptake in mammals is involved. The transcription of hepcidin is controlled by the iron status of the body, hypoxia, and/or inflammation. This study was meant to find relationship between serum prohepcidin levels and clinical parameters of iron homeostasis or inflammatory state in patients suffering from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.


METHODS
Serum prohepcidin levels were measured with ELISA in 72 patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and 30 patients suffering from Crohn's disease.


RESULTS
In both groups serum iron levels were lower, while levels of C-reactive protein were higher than in the healthy controls. Serum prohepcidin levels showed no significant differences compared to those in the control group. In the affected patients only weak correlations were observed between prohepcidin levels and diagnostic parameters: in Crohn's disease prohepcidin levels correlated positively with transferrin levels, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin saturation, activity index, and serum albumin levels, while in ulcerative coltitis prohepcidin levels were related to transferrin levels and transferrin saturation.


CONCLUSIONS
It seems obvious that serum prohepcidin level determination in itself is not a satisfactory diagnostic or prognostic measure in anemia of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases.
Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary. judit.d.nagy@aok.pte.hu
Judit
J
Nagy
Lilla
L
Lakner
Viktor S
VS
Poór
Edina
E
Pandur
Gyula
G
Mózsik
Attila
A
Miseta
Katalin
K
Sipos
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D064451:Hepcidins; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D064451:Hepcidins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D007501:Iron