Relationship Between Viral Load and Prohepcidin Levels in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

Ad dress for Cor res pon den ce: Mustafa Altındiş MD, Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Sakarya, Turkey E-mail: maltindis@sakarya.edu.tr ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0411-9669 Re cei ved: 16.03.2020 Ac cep ted: 29.09.2020 ©Copyright 2020 by Viral Hepatitis Society / Viral Hepatitis Journal published by Galenos Publishing House. Dear Editor; Viral hepatitis represents a major cause of chronic liver disease leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), worldwide. Increased iron storage has an important role in the diseases associated with Hepatitis B virus (HBV). This may be associated with the iron’s ability to produce oxidative stress and cause tissue damage and chronic inflammation in the liver. Hepcidin is a hormone which functions as a key regulator in iron homeostasis and is produced in the liver. Understanding the regulation of hepcidin in chronic viral hepatitis (CVD) associated diseases may explain the relation among viral hepatitis, iron accumulation and HCC to a great extent (1,2). In this study, serum prohepcidin levels were assessed in four different groups of patients followed up with the diagnosis of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The aim of this study was to evaluate prohepcidin levels with HBV-DNA levels in HBV infected patients and healthy volunteers. The study included the serum samples, which were sent to Sakarya University, Sakarya Training and Research Hospital, Medical Microbiology Laboratory and routinely tested and then stored at -80 °C, from patients who were followed up with CHB infection and healthy population. Patients with chronic hepatic or hematologic conditions were excluded. The participants were divided into four groups according to their status of using medication and level of viral load (≥105 IU/mL was accepted as high). The serum prohepcidin levels in the samples of the study were investigated with the method of ELISA test (Boster, Pleasanton CA). A total of 60 patients with CHB (33 male, mean age 42.4±6.3 years) and 20 healthy volunteers were included in the study. The prohepcidin levels of the control group were found to be higher than patient groups. Also, it was detected to be higher in those with the viral load <105 IU/mL compared to those with the viral load ≥105 IU/mL. The prohepcidin levels of the control group and patient groups are illustrated in the Table 1. Hepcidin is a circulating peptide hormone that is synthesized mainly from the liver and is the main regulator of systemic iron balance. As it is produced mainly by hepatocytes, liver diseases may affect hepcidin production. There are a few studies evaluating hepcidin expression in CVD but remains controversial. Understanding the regulation of hepcidin in HBV-associated diseases may increase our knowledge on the relationship among