Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common hepatic illness globally, (NAFLD), is accompanied by obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. Since increased iron reserves may raise the likelihood of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, they may be of pathogenic significance in NAFLD. By destroying ferroprotein, the only known iron exporter in mammals, hepcidin regulates iron release from spleen macrophages and hepatic cells in addition to controlling dietary iron absorption from enterocytes.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate serum hepcidin levels and its relation to serum iron and ferritin in obese female patients with NAFLD.
Patients and Methods: Fifty obese women with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2 and diagnosed as NAFLD and 30 healthy normal-weight women, with a BMI of 23.05 ± 1.85 were enrolled in the study. Serum hepcidin levels were measured and were compared to the control populations.
Results: The mean level of hepcidin in obese women with NAFLD was 28.38 ± 13.66, which was significantly higher than that of controls (14.03 ± 2.85) and its levels were correlated with lipid profile [(negatively with cholesterol (rs: -0.290) and triglyceride (rs: -0.326) and positively with HDL (rs: 0.309)], but didn't correlate with iron profile.
Conclusion: The current study revealed that in obese women with NAFLD, serum hepcidin values were significantly increased than in healthy females with normal weight and its levels were correlated with lipid profile (negatively with cholesterol and triglyceride and positively with HDL), but didn't correlate with iron profile. So, in NAFLD patients with iron overload, hepcidin may make significant contributions to the early diagnosis and therapy choices.