1. Importance of Studying the Levels of Hepcidin and Vitamin D in Egyptian Children with Chronic Hepatitis C.
- Author
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Mohamed AA, Abd Almonaem ER, Mansour AI, Algebaly HF, Khattab RA, and El Abd YS
- Abstract
Background and Objective: Hepcidin is the key regulator of iron metabolism and is a significant biomarker for systemic inflammatory states. Vitamin D is a powerful immunomodulator and plays a significant role in the inflammatory responses and fibrosis occurring due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This study assessed the level of vitamin D and serum hepcidin and its expression in peripheral blood of children with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and correlated them with other serum markers to reflect iron metabolism and liver disease severity., Methods: A total of 100 children were included in this study: 50 with HCV infection and 50 healthy controls. Biochemical parameters together with vitamin D, hepcidin, and its expression were all measured., Results: The level of hepcidin and its expression together with vitamin D and hepcidin-to-ferritin (H/F) ratios were significantly reduced in patients, but the iron and ferritin levels were higher ( P <0.001). Serum hepcidin level showed significant positive correlation with hepcidin expression, HCV titer, iron, ferritin, and H/F ratio ( r = 0.43, 0.31, 0.34, 0.28, and 0.91, respectively) but significant negative correlation with vitamin D ( r = -0.37). Both hepcidin and ferritin were higher in patients with Child Pugh scores B and C than those with score A ( P <0.001)., Conclusion: Measuring serum hepcidin and its expression together with vitamin D levels in patients may have a prognostic value and is promising in the follow-up of the severity of liver disease., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The authors report no conflict of interests
- Published
- 2019
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