The role of hepcidin in regulating intestinal iron absorption

缺铁性贫血是影响全世界20亿人的最常见的营养缺乏症。虽然大多数受影响的人生活在发展中国家，但英国高达30%的育龄妇女也缺铁。据估计，治疗与缺铁相关的疾病每年花费NHS约2500万英镑。缺铁患者的常规治疗依赖于含有相对高剂量铁的补充剂。虽然这些补充剂可以长期改善铁的状况，但它们可能会导致胃肠道紊乱，因此一些患者的耐受性较差。因此，制定更好的治疗方案将使那些接受补充疗法的人受益。铁调素是一种控制铁吸收的调节肽，可能是开发这种替代疗法的目标。作为探索这种可能性的第一步，我们的研究将更好地了解铁调素相互作用的机制：（i）与肠上皮细胞相互作用，以调节膳食铁的吸收;（ii）与巨噬细胞相互作用，从死亡的红细胞中回收铁，使其可以重新用于红细胞血红蛋白的生产。这些初步研究将突出重要的细胞机制，可以进一步探索作为治疗干预的可能目标。

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.