Associations of common variants in HFE and TMPRSS6 genes with hepcidin-25 and iron status parameters in patients with end-stage renal disease

Abstract

Background. Influence of TMPRSS6 A736V and HFE (C282Y and H63D) polymorphisms on serum hepcidin-25 levels and iron status parameters in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients stratified according to gender has not been previously investigated. In addition, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the parameters to separate iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) from anemia of chronic disease. Materials and Methods. Iron status parameters and genetic analysis were performed in 126 ESRD patients and in 31 IDA patients as the control group. Results. ESRD patients had significantly higher ferritin and hepcidin-25 (<0.001) relative to IDA patients. Cut-off values with the best diagnostic accuracy were found for hepcidin ≥9.32 ng/mL, ferritin ≥48.2 μg/L, transferrin saturation ≥16.8%, and MCV ≥81 fL. Interaction between gender and HFE haplotypes for the hepcidin-25 and ferritin levels in ESRD patients (p = 0 005, partial eta squared = 0 09; p = 0 027, partial eta squared = 0 06, respectively) was found. Serum transferrin was influenced by the combined effect of gender and TMPRSS6 A736V polymorphism in ESRD patients (p = 0 002, partial eta squared = 0 07). Conclusion. Our findings could contribute to the further investigation of mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology and important gender-related involvement of the TMPRSS6 and HFE polymorphisms on anemia in ESRD patients.