2Department of Internal Medicine, Göztepe Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey
3Pakize Tarzı Laboratory, İstanbul, Turkey
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the relationship between atherosclerosis, an inflammatory disease and hepcidin which is reported as an indi- cator of inflammation Methods: A total of 75 subjects between 40 and 70 years of age were included in the study. The patient group consisted of 40 stable pa- tients who had previously experienced an atherosclerotic event (18 women, 22 men; mean age 56.4±7.1 years). There were two control groups. The first control group consisted of 19 healthy subjects (11 women, 8 men; mean age 52.6± 7.4 years), while the second group inc- luded 16 patients (11 women, 5 men; mean age 56.5±9.3 years) with rheumatoid arthritis and anemia (diseased control group). Hepcidin measurement was performed using Hepcidin Prohormone ELISA (Solid Phase Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) test kit. Results: Mean serum hepcidin levels were 243.2±48.8 ng/ml, 374.5±86.4 ng/ml, and 234±59.9 ng/ml in the patient group, in diseased cont- rols, and in healthy controls, respectively. Hepcidin levels were higher in diseased controls compared to the patient group and healthy controls (p=0.001). There were no significant differences between the patient group and healthy controls. Conclusion: These findings did not support the hypothesis that hepcidin levels could be increased in atherosclerotic cardiovascular di- seases as a marker of chronic inflammation.