Hepcidin as a potential biomarker for diagnosis of anaemia

There are several blood-based markers to assess iron stores, but they all have some limitations. Hepcidin, a low-molecular-weight peptide hormone, is mainly produced by liver. It is the main regulator of iron homeostasis through prevention iron release into plasma from absorptive enterocytes and macrophages. The objective of this review is to critically assess existing data on potential role of hepcidin in diagnosis, particularly the (pre) analytical implications of the hepcidin measurement. There is a well-known causative correlation between hepcidin and iron deficiency. Therefore, hepcidin is considered to be a promising marker in the assessment of iron status, particularly in patients with diagnostic dilemma, such as patients with chronic renal disease and infants. The clinical implications of this peptide hormone in diagnosis of other diseases have been expanded in the recent studies, including elevated hepcidin levels in neoplastic diseases, sepsis and inflammation. The potential role of hepcidin in diagnosis is controversial in the various types of iron deficiency because data is conflicting (as in anaemia of chronic disease) or limited (as in infants), whereas in the case of hereditary haemochromatosis, it has been proposed that hepcidin may be used for stratification of molecular testing, or to improve the frequency of phlebotomy, however this issue still needs to be investigated. Due to lack of a clinically approved test, the medical application of this peptide as a biomarker in diagnosis is restricted. Recently, assays have been developed to determine hepcidin levels in serum and urine, facilitating the future use of hepcidin in research and clinical practice.