title: Duodenal ferroportin is up-regulated in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of liver-related mortality. Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is frequently associated with disturbances in iron homeostasis, with serum iron and hepatic iron stores being elevated. Accumulating evidence indicates that chronic HCV infection suppresses expression of hepatic hepcidin, a key mediator of iron homeostasis, leading to iron overload conditions. Since hepcidin mediates degradation of ferroportin, a basolateral transporter involved in the release of iron from cells, diminished hepcidin expression probably leads to up-regulation of ferroportin-1 (Fpn1) in patients with CHC. In this study, we determined the protein levels of duodenal Fpn1, and found that its expression was significantly up-regulated in patients with CHC. The expression of duodenal Fpn1 is negatively correlated with mRNA levels of hepcidin, and positively correlated with serum iron parameters. Although iron is a critical factor for growth of a variety of pathogenic bacteria, our results suggest that iron overload in blood does not increase the infection rate of bacteria in patients with CHC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Lanqing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Yuping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Jiajun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Xiangqian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Yunzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, CAS, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jiefu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004386:Duodenum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D064451:Hepcidins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015854:Up-Regulation; D000098742:Ferroportin
chemical_list: D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; D064451:Hepcidins; D000098742:Ferroportin; D007501:Iron