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Seo, Song, Park, Kim, Seo, Ahn, Kim, Jeong, Chung, and Park: Hepcidin Level and Iron Parameters in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Abstract

Background

Hepcidin, a key regulator of iron homeostasis, is associated with iron metabolism imbalance in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, serum hepcidin level in anemic patients with CKD presents a contradictory picture. We investigated the relationship between serum hepcidin-25 level and iron parameters in patients with CKD.

Methods

We defined and categorized patients with CKD according to the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) guidelines. We analyzed the relationship between serum hepcidin-25 level and iron parameters [serum iron, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), unbound iron-binding capacity (UIBC), transferrin saturation, and ferritin levels] according to the CKD stage and clinical and laboratory characteristics.

Results

Hb level, TIBC, and UIBC decreased and ferritin level increased (Ptrend<0.001) (stage 1-2, 28; stage 3, 40; stage 4, 36; stage 5, 42) as the CKD stage progressed. Serum hepcidin-25 level showed no significant trend with the progressing CKD stage [stage 1-2, 13.7 (3.7-25.0) ng/mL; stage 3, 14.0 (0.8-26.5) ng/mL; stage 4, 13.9 (2.0-32.1) ng/mL; stage 5, 13.8 (0.5-42.4) ng/mL; Ptrend=0.618]. No significant relationship was noted between serum hepcidin-25 level and kidney function parameters, Hb levels, or iron parameters (P>0.05).

Conclusions

Serum hepcidin-25 level was not found to be associated with iron parameters or clinical status of CKD patients in our study. Determination of hepcidin-25 levels may not provide more information than conventional iron parameters in monitoring iron metabolism in CKD patients. However, further studies are needed to establish the clinical utility of hepcidin measurement in CKD patients.

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1

Levels of serum hepcidin-25 in patients with chronic kidney disease and control population. CKD, chronic kidney disease.

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Fig. 2

Relationship between the levels of serum hepcidin-25 and creatinine (A), eGFR (B), hemoglobin (C), iron (D), transferrin saturation (E), and ferritin (F) in patients with chronic kidney disease.

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Table 1

Clinical and laboratory characteristics of 146 patients with chronic kidney disease

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Stage 1-2 (n = 28) Stage 3 (n = 40) Stage 4 (n = 36) Stage 5 (n = 42) Ptrend
Age (yr) 48.3 (14.1) 58.5 (11.4) 64.8 (11.5) 56.7 (14.7) 0.003
Female (%) 57.1 45 55.6 52.4 0.877
Causes of CKD (%)
 Chronic GN 60.7 27.5 11.1 7.3 < 0.001
 Diabetic nephropathy 21.4 40 58.3 50 < 0.001
 Hypertension 7.1 12.5 16.7 23.8 0.033
 Connective tissue disease 3.6 7.5 0 7.1 0.798
 Polycystic kidney disease 0 2.5 5.6 7.1 0.112
 Unknown 7.1 10 5.6 2.4 0.399
 Other 0 0 2.7 2.4 0.283
Medication (%)
 ESA 0 12 22.2 53.0 < 0.001
 Oral iron supplements 7.1 25 41.7 64.3 < 0.001
 ACE inhibitor/ARB 78.6 80 80.6 71.4 < 0.001
 Statins 42.9 55 55.0 31.0 0.044
Dialysis < 0.001
 Hemodialysis N/A N/A N/A 11.9
 Peritoneal dialysis N/A N/A N/A 47.6
BUN (mg/dL) 16.8 (4.4) 29.8 (10.4) 41.2 (13.1) 60.5 (19.9) < 0.001
Cr (mg/dL) 0.9 (0.2) 1.6 (0.3) 2.7 (0.7) 8.3 (4.3) < 0.001
eGFR (mL/min/1.73m2) 87.4 (23.5) 40.3 (9.2) 21.6 (4.4) 7.8 (4.1) < 0.001
Hb (g/dL) 14.0 (1.8) 12.2 (1.9) 11.2 (1.4) 11.0 (1.4) < 0.001
Iron (µg/dL) 107.5 (48.8) 86.6 (43.4) 79.4 (31.0) 91.2 (39.1) 0.124
TIBC (µg/dL) 323.5 (36.1) 306.8 (53.8) 271.0 (47.8) 256.9 (41.7) < 0.001
UIBC (µg/dL) 216.0 (45.6) 220.3 (59.3) 191.7 (48.7) 165.7 (55.8) < 0.001
TSAT (%) 28.5 (11.8-65.0) 24.4 (7.2-79.2) 27.3 (12.0-79.9) 33.6 (8.6-106.9) 0.473
Ferritin (ng/mL) 73.4 (17.6-394.8) 93.5 (7.7-1,387.6) 97.8 (13.6-1,661.3) 228.0 (21-1,044.8) < 0.001
Hepcidin-25 (ng/mL) 13.7 (3.7-25.0) 14.0 (0.8-26.5) 13.9 (2.0-32.1) 13.8 (0.5-42.4) 0.618

Abbreviations: CKD, chronic kidney disease; GN, glomerulonephritis; ESA, erythropoiesis stimulating agent; ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme; ARB, angiotensin receptor blocker; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; Cr, creatinine; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; Hb, hemoglobin; TIBC, total iron binding capacity; UIBC, unsaturated iron binding capacity; TSAT, transferrin saturation; N/A, not applicable.

Table 2

Correlation of serum hepcidin-25 levels with biochemical variables in patients with chronic kidney disease

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All patient group (n=146) CKD1&2 (n=28) CKD3 (n=40) CKD4 (n=36) CKD5 (n=42)
r P r P r P r P r P
Cr -0.014 0.863 -0.013 0.949 -0.140 0.388 0.102 0.553 -0.072 0.651
BUN -0.067 0.431 0.187 0.340 -0.204 0.129 -0.273 0.107 -0.093 0.558
eGFR -0.044 0.601 -0.150 0.446 0.177 0.274 -0.277 0.103 0.102 0.522
Iron -0.011 0.896 0.175 0.372 -0.140 0.388 -0.222 0.193 0.116 0.466
TIBC -0.063 0.447 -0.059 0.765 0.053 0.746 -0.179 0.297 -0.037 0.819
UIBC -0.036 0.670 -0.235 0.229 0.151 0.353 -0.034 0.844 -0.108 0.495
TSAT 0.021 0.803 0.207 0.290 -0.154 0.343 -0.135 0.433 0.101 0.524
Ferritin -0.085 0.307 0.017 0.933 -0.337 0.034 -0.008 0.966 -0.053 0.741
Hb 0.068 0.414 0.199 0.310 -0.075 0.644 0.091 0.596 0.262 0.093

Abbreviations: CKD, chronic kidney disease; Cr, creatinine; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; TIBC, total iron binding capacity; UIBC, unsaturated iron binding capacity; TSAT, transferrin saturation; Hb, hemoglobin.

Notes

This article is available from http://www.labmedonline.org

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