Serum hepcidin, and infection parameters in children with anemia

What is it about?

Hepcidin is a key regulator of iron homeostasis. Increased hepcidin concentrations cause iron sequestration in enterocytes and macrophages. The role of hepcidin in children with iron-deficiency anemia and anemia of inflammation is unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the use of serum hepcidin level as an index for iron deficiency and inflammation anemia in pediatric population. Furthermore, hepcidin is also known to be an acute-phase reactant induced by interleukin-6 (IL-6) during infection. Therefore, we investigated the relationships between hepcidin and inflammatory markers

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Why is it important?

Hepcidin may have the potential advantage to distinguish between anemia of inflammation and iron-deficieny anemia in practise.