ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hepcidin has recently been known as a negative regulatory hormone of iron. Hepcidin precursor, pro-hepcidin has been used as a surrogate and reported to be related to iron deficiency. We investigated serum pro-hepcidin levels in patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA), anemia of chronic disorder (ACD) and ACD concomitant iron deficiency (ACD/ID) to assess its usefulness as a marker of iron deficiency and examined whether its level is associated with anemia, iron status or inflammation profiles involved in the synthesis of hepcidin. METHODS: We enrolled 50 patients with IDA, 46 with ACD, 12 with ACD/ID and 60 healthy controls. Complete blood cell count, iron parameters (iron, TIBC, trasferrin saturation, ferritin), C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum pro-hepcidin were measured. RESULTS: Patients with iron deficiency, the IDA group and ACD/ID group had lower serum pro-hepcidin levels than healthy controls and the ACD group. The cutoff value of pro-hepcidin for detecting iron deficiency was 230 ng/mL (sensitivity 88.1%, specificity 51.2%). Patients with increased CRP showed higher mean pro-hepcidin level than those with normal CRP and the difference was significant in the IDA group (P=0.02). And serum pro-hepcidin level was positively correlated with CRP level (r=0.30, P=0.04) in the IDA group but not with hemoglobin. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with anemia, pro-hepcidin measurement may be useful for differentiating anemia patients with iron deficiency, IDA and ACD/ID from those with ACD. Serum pro-hepcidin levels may be more affected by inflammation than by the degree of anemia.