[Hepcidin--a peptide regulating the quantity and distribution of iron in the body in healthy and disease states]

Abstract

Iron is an essential element and its amount and balance must be precisely regulated. Iron intestinal absorption is essential for the iron balance; however, the precise mechanism of its regulation remains unknown. Antimicrobial peptide hepcidin, produced in the liver, is considered as a key regulator of iron absorption and kinetics in the organism. Its expression increases in response to the iron overload. Hepcidin decreases iron absorption in the duodenum and causes its sequestration in macrophages. Apart from the iron, inflammation increases hepcidin expression in the liver, and hepcidin is considered to be acute phase protein. Hepcidin is not only the physiological regulator of iron kinetics but is supposed to be a part of the pathogenetic mechanism of anaemia accompanying chronic diseases and its relationship to the hereditary hemochromatosis is also studied.