Serum Hepcidin Level in Different Stages of Hepatitis C Induced Chronic Liver Disease

Document Type : Original Article

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Abstract

Background: Patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) often have increased liver iron, a condition associated with more rapid progression to cirrhosis. Hepcidin decrease is a possible pathophysiological mechanism of iron overload in these patients.
Objective: The aim of the present work was to assess serum hepcidin in patients with chronic hepatitis C as an iron- regulating hormone.
Patients and Methods: This study included 45 patients with CHC as patients group and 15 healthy individuals who served as a control group. All were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, pelvi-abdominal ultrasound, laboratory investigations such as liver function tests, kidney function tests, complete blood count, prothrombin time, INR, C-reactive protein, serum iron, ferritin, transferring saturation and serum hepcidin level by ELISA.
Results: Serum hepcidin (ng/ml) was highly significantly lower in CHC patients than in controls. Serum iron (μg/dl), serum ferritin (μg/l) and serum transferrin saturation (%) were significantly higher in CHC patients than in controls. Conclusion: Hepcidin levels in patients with CHC were significantly lower than that in HCV‐ negative individuals. It is an important factor in iron abnormalities and is detected in such cases in which serum iron levels, serum ferritin and transferrin saturation were significantly high in CHC patients compared to HCV‐ negative healthy individuals. The suppression of this hormone by hepatitis C virus is likely an important factor in liver iron accumulation.

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The Egyptian Journal of Hospital Medicine
Volume 81, Issue 3
October 2020
Pages 1634-1638

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