title: Serum levels of the hepcidin-20 isoform in a large general population: the Val Borbera study.
abstract: Hepcidin, a 25 amino-acid liver hormone, has recently emerged as the key regulator of iron homeostasis. Proteomic studies in limited number of subjects have shown that biological fluids can also contain truncated isoforms, whose role remains to be elucidated. We report, for the first time, data about serum levels of the hepcidin-20 isoform (hep-20) in a general population, taking advantage of the Val Borbera (VB) study where hepcidin-25 (hep-25) was measured by SELDI-TOF-MS. Detectable amount of hep-20 were found in sera from 854 out of 1577 subjects (54.2%), and its levels were about 14% of hep-25 levels. A small fraction of subjects (n=30, 1.9%) had detectable hep-20 but undetectable hep-25. In multivariate regression models, significant predictors of hep-20 were hep-25 and age in males, and hep-25, age, serum ferritin and body mass index in females. Of note, the hep-25:hep-20 ratio was not constant in the VB population, but increased progressively with increasing ferritin levels. This is not consistent with the simplistic view of hep-20 as a mere catabolic byproduct of hep-25. Although a possible active regulation of hep-20 production needs further confirmation, our results may also have implications for immunoassays for serum hepcidin based on antibodies lacking specificity for hep-25. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Integrated omics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Section of Internal Medicine, University of Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Natascia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Campostrini
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Traglia
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corbella
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cocca
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Manna
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castagna
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Masciullo
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Silvestri
authors.forename: Oliviero
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Toniolo
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Camaschella
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Girelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D064451:Hepcidins; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000097:blood; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D064451:Hepcidins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D020033:Protein Isoforms; C542573:hepcidin (6-25), human