title: Assessment of serum hepcidin levels in patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepcidin is an acute-phase reactant produced in the liver displaying intrinsic antimicrobial activity. There are few studies about hepcidin considered to be acute and chronic inflammatory marker in acute coronary syndromes patients. We investigated in our study whether the level of hepcidin has increased in the acute phase of non-ST elevation myocardial infarction patients (NSTEMI) known as acute inflammatory aggravation of chronic atherosclerotic process.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy patients with NSTEMI and twenty healthy people were recruited as controls in this observational cross-sectional study. Serum hepcidin levels were determined by ELISA, and troponin levels were measured by standard laboratory methods. Levels of hepcidin and troponin were measured at admission and 6 hours later. Mean values of continuous variables were compared between groups using the Student t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, according to whether normally distributed or not, as tested by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Serum troponin and hepcidin levels measured at admission and after 6th hours were compared using paired t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hepcidin level was similar between NSTEMI and controls at admission (24.55±32.13, 23.67±33.62 ng/mL, p>0.05, respectively). Also, serum hepcidin levels did not change significantly from baseline in blood samples taken after 6 hour from admission in NSTEMI patients (24.55±32.13 ng/mL, 29.75±31.48 ng/mL, p=0.62, respectively). However, serum troponin levels were increased significantly compared to baseline (0.29±3.56, 2.92±7.2 ng/mL, p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that hepcidin could not be use as a marker of myocardial necrosis in acute phase such as troponin in patients with NSTEMI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ministry of Health, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University; Çanakkale-Turkey. hakantasolar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Burak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Altun
authors.forename: Mehzat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altun
authors.forename: Gürkan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.forename: Metin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kilinç
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taşolar
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Küçük
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Temiz
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gazi
authors.forename: Bahadir
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kirilmaz
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D064451:Hepcidins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014336:Troponin / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D064451:Hepcidins; D014336:Troponin