ABSTRACT
La acumulación de hierro hepático asociada a mutaciones en el gen HFE de la hemocromatosis hereditaria (HH) en los pacientes con porfiria cutánea tarda (PCT) podría tener un papel en la etiología y en la expresión clínica de esta enfermedad. Se estudió la frecuencia de las mutaciones H63D y C282Y en un grupo de pacientes con PCT y se la comparó con la observada en un grupo de donantes voluntarios desangre. Los pacientes con PCT fueron catalogados como portadores de la forma hereditaria o adquirida de laenfermedad, según presentaran o no mutaciones en el gen uroporfirinógeno decarboxilasa (UROD). El 50% delos pacientes con PCT eran portadores de la forma genética de la enfermedad, porcentaje significativamentemayor que lo informado en otras series. El 23% de los donantes voluntarios de sangre eran portadores de lamutación H63D y 2.4% lo era de la mutación C282Y. Frecuencias similares a lo encontrado por otros autoresen población chilena de etnia blanca, en población argentina y española, pero significativamente más alta quelo encontrado en estudios en población aborigen araucana. Esto tiene, probablemente, relación con el predominio de ascendencia española en la población blanca chilena. La frecuencia de mutación en el gen HFE en pacientes con PCT no fue significativamente diferente que la observada en donantes voluntarios de sangre. Tampoco hubo diferencias significativas en la frecuencia de estas mutaciones entre los casos con PCT adquirida respecto de aquellos en que ésta era de origen genético. Los resultados obtenidos no permiten afirmar que exista asociación entre la PCT y la condición de portador de mutaciones del gen HFE de la hemocromatosis hereditaria
In patients with porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), hepatic iron accumulation associated to hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) could play a role in the etiology and in the clinical expression of the disease. The H63D and C282Y mutations of the HFE gene frequency were studied in a PCT group of patients and compared with the frequency observed in a group of volunteer blood donors. PCT patients were cataloged as hereditary or acquired PCT carriers, whether or not they presented uroporphyrinogen decarboxilase gene mutations. Fifty percent of PCT patients were carriers of the diseases genetic type. Such percentage is significantlyhigher than what other authors have previously informed. H63D and C282Y mutations were present in23% and 2.4% of the volunteer blood donors, respectively. Similar frequencies were informed by others authors in Chilean white ethnic populations, and also in Spaniard and Argentinean populations, but significantly higherthan that observed in Chiles Araucanean aboriginal population. Probably the frequency of H63D and C283Y mutations are related to the Spaniard ascendancy dominance of Chiles white ethnic population. The frequency of HFE gene mutations in PCT patients was not different than what was observed in volunteer blood donors.Similarly, there was no statistical difference in the frequency of these mutations among patients with acquired or genetic PCT disease. With the obtained results, it is not possible postulate an association between PCT and the hereditary hemochromatosis of HFE gene mutations carrier conditions
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Blood Donors , Hemochromatosis/genetics , Histocompatibility Antigens Class I/genetics , Mutation , Membrane Proteins/genetics , Porphyria Cutanea Tarda/genetics , Chile/ethnology , Gene Frequency , Genotype , Genetic Carrier Screening , Hemochromatosis/blood , Iron Overload , Porphyria Cutanea Tarda/blood , Uroporphyrinogen Decarboxylase/blood , Uroporphyrinogen Decarboxylase/geneticsABSTRACT
Patients with chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) have reduced hemoglobin levels, mostly as a result of decreased kidney production of erythropoietin, but the relation between renal insufficiency and the magnitude of hemoglobin reduction has not been well defined. Hereditary hemochromatosis is an inherited disorder of iron metabolism. The importance of the association of hemochromatosis with treatment for anemia among patients with CRI has not been well described. We analyzed the frequency of the C282Y and H63D mutations in the HFE gene in 201 Brazilian individuals with CRI undergoing hemodialysis. The analysis of the effects of HFE mutations on iron metabolism and anemia with biochemical parameters was possible in 118 patients of this study (hemoglobin, hematocrit, ferritin levels, transferrin saturation, and serum iron). A C282Y heterozygous mutation was found in 7/201 (3.4 percent) and H63D homozygous and heterozygous mutation were found in 2/201 (1.0 percent) and 46/201 (22.9 percent), respectively. The allelic frequencies of the HFE mutations (0.017 for C282Y mutation and 0.124 for H63D mutation) did not differ between patients with CRI and healthy controls. Regarding the biochemical parameters, no differences were observed between HFE heterozygous and mutation-negative patients, although ferritin levels were not higher among patients with the H63D mutation (P = 0.08). From what we observed in our study, C282Y/H63D HFE gene mutations are not related to degrees of anemia or iron stores in CRI patients receiving intravenous iron supplementation (P > 0.10). Nevertheless, the present data suggest that the H63D mutation may have an important function as a modulating factor of iron overload in these patients.