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Researchers find low hepcidin in patients with autoimmune liver diseases

Researchers in Greece found that patients with various autoimmune liver diseases had lower hepcidin serum compared with patients of other liver diseases, according to published findings.

“Although there are many studies demonstrating altered hepcidin levels in iron disorders, data on hepcidin regulation in chronic liver diseases and in particular autoimmune liver diseases are scarce. … In this work, we evaluated liver hepcidin gene expression, serum hepcidin levels and hepcidin/ferritin ratios in patients with diverse liver diseases, including for the first time patients with autoimmune liver disorders, and subsequently correlated these measurements with the clinical, histological and laboratory data of the patients,” the researchers wrote.

Hepcidin serum of 126 patients with chronic liver disease enrolled at the hepatology clinic of Larissa Medical School at the University of Thessaly in Greece was analyzed and evaluated. Of these patients, 34 had either primary biliary cirrhosis or primary sclerosing cholangitis (PBC/PSC); 32 had nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; 23 had hepatitis B virus infection; 21 had hepatitis C virus infection and 16 had autoimmune hepatitis (AIH).

The mean age of the patients was 46.8 ± 15.5 years and 74 were female and 52 were male. The patient data was compared with data of 17 volunteer blood donors (10 males, 7 females; mean age of 45.18 ± 15 years), who served as a healthy control group for the analysis.

Overall, hepatic hepcidin mRNA levels correlated positively with ferritin levels, but negatively with serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase levels. However, no correlation was found between serum hepcidin and either ferritin or liver hepcidin mRNA levels.

Serum hepcidin of patients with AIH and PBC/PSC were lower compared with patients with HBV, HCV or NAFLD (P < .001 for all) and correlated negatively with serum alkaline phosphatase levels. In addition, the serum hepcidin/ferritin ratio in the PBC/PSC and AIH patients was lower compared with the other patients (P < .001 for all).

The PBC/PSC and AIH patients maintained low serum hepcidin levels during 2-year treatment.

The researchers concluded: “Parallel determination of hepcidin expression levels in liver biopsies and sera of patients with different hepatic disorders has revealed that serum hepcidin concentrations and their corresponding ratios to ferritin are dramatically low in patients with autoimmune liver diseases in comparison to other liver diseases. This striking and novel finding necessitates further studies to evaluate the role of serum hepcidin as a sensitive biomarker for liver autoimmunity and its pathogenic involvement along with the underlying molecular mechanisms.” – by Melinda Stevens

Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.