Serum Hepcidin Evaluation in Patients with Chronic Dialysis

Abstract

The aim of our study was to quantify serum hepcidin levels in Bulgarian patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Expected high values of peptide hormones might provide a new therapeutic choice for anemia of chronic disease. We looked for correlation between serum hepcidin levels and some iron metabolism parameters in CKD patients. Results: The sandwich ELISA is highly specific for hepcidin-25. We found statistically significant differences in serum hepcidin levels in patients of the control group, with CKD stages II to IV and CKD stage V (on chronic dialysis): 12.7±8.7μg/L, 90.74±21.1μg/L, and 282.49±81.1μg/L, respectively. Significant correlation between serum hepcidin and transferrin saturation (r=0.340, P<0.05) was found in the group of patients with CKD stage V. Conclusion: The use of 2 monoclonal antibodies in a sandwich ELISA format provides a reliable, reproducible, and inexpensive method for measuring serum concentrations of the bioactive form of hepcidin in Bulgarian laboratory practice.

Keywords

• Hepcidin;
• anemia of chronic disease;
• chronic kidney disease (CKD);
• hemodialysis