Cross-sectional study characterizes hepcidin regulation in IBD, revealing links to iron status and inflammation.
Key Points
This research investigates how hepcidin, an iron-regulating hormone, is influenced by iron status and inflammation in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Cross-sectional multicenter study involving 589 individuals with stratification by disease status and iron levels.
Measurement of serum hepcidin, iron parameters, and inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein and faecal calprotectin.
Analysis using multivariable linear regression to identify predictors of hepcidin levels.
In Crohn's disease, hepcidin levels were higher than controls in certain iron status categories, with a positive correlation to C-reactive protein.
In ulcerative colitis, hepcidin showed no significant difference from controls and correlated negatively with faecal calprotectin.
Ferritin emerged as the strongest independent predictor of hepcidin levels across all groups.