Decreased serum prohepcidin concentration in patients with polycythemia vera.

OBJECTIVE: Iron deficiency is a common complication in patients with polycythemia vera (PV). Hepcidin is a principal regulator of iron homeostasis. The aim of our study was to assess prohepcidin, a hepcidin precursor, and other iron status parameters in the serum of PV patients. METHODS: The study was performed in 60 patients (F/M 26/34) aged 38~84 (66+/-10) years. The control group consisted of 20 healthy volunteers, age and sex matched. The following parameters were determined in blood serum samples: prohepcidin concentration, iron content, unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin saturation (TfS), and concentrations of ferritin and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR). RESULTS: All PV patients showed significantly lower levels of prohepcidin, higher levels of sTfR and TIBC compared to the control group. 40% of the patients from the study group showed concentrations of ferritin below the normal range and significantly lower levels of serum iron and TfS, and significantly higher levels of sTfR, UIBC and TIBC in comparison with the rest of the study group. In this group of patients, prohepcidin concentrations were significantly lower than those in other patients. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that PV patients suffer from iron metabolism disorders. The decreased serum level of prohepcidin in PV patients may be a result of iron deficiency.

The Impact of Sex and Age on Serum Prohepcidin Concentration in Healthy Adults.

INTRODUCTION: Within the last 8 years, it has become evident that hepcidin has a diagnostic and therapeutic potential. Therefore, it is a great need to establish the reference interval for hepcidin and its precursor. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of age and sex on serum prohepcidin concentration in healthy adults. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 100 healthy volunteers were enrolled during the 18 months of the study - 56 males and 44 females, mean age 34.8±10.1 yrs. Serum prohepcidin, ferritin, soluble transferring receptor (sTfR) and plasma erythropoietin were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Serum iron and unsaturated iron binding capacity were determined on ARCHITECT ci8200 (Abbott Diagnostics) according to the manufacturer's instructions. RESULTS: Serum prohepcidin concentrations ranged from 74.9 ng/ml to 300.4 ng/ml in healthy adults of both sexes. However, prohepcidin levels were significantly higher in males (median value 145.7 ng/ml) than in females (median 127.3 ng/ml) (p=0.0016). Serum prohepcidin was not associated with age in the group of healthy adults. CONCLUSIONS: Serum prohepcidin concentrations were found to be related to sex. Significantly lower prohepcidin levels were observed in females compared with males.