The role of hepcidin in regulating intestinal iron absorption

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Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common nutritional deficiency affecting 2 billion people worldwide. While the majority of those affected live in the developing world, up to 30% of women of childbearing age in the UK are also iron deficient. It is estimated that the treatment of ailments associated with iron deficiency costs the NHS approximately £25 million per year. Conventional treatment for iron deficient patients relies on supplements containing relatively high doses of iron. While these supplements improve iron status in the long term, they can cause gastro-intestinal disturbances and are therefore poorly tolerated by some patients. The development of improved treatment regimes would therefore benefit those on supplementation therapy. Hepcidin, a regulatory peptide that controls iron absorption, might be a target for the development of such alternative therapies. As a first step in exploring this possibility, our study will establish a better understanding of the mechanisms by which hepcidin interacts (i) with intestinal epithelial cells to regulate dietary iron absorption and (ii) with macrophages which recover iron from dead red blood cells so that it can be re-used for the production of erythrocyte haemoglobin . These preliminary studies will highlight important cellular mechanisms that can be explored further as possible targets for therapeutic intervention.