Hepcidin can be considered a key inducer of anemia of inflammation in patients with RA. This inflammation was proved to be directly linked to coronary artery atherosclerosis. The correlations between serum hepcidin with disease activity and IL-6 raise the possibility of using it as a surrogate marker for disease activity.

Iron defi ciency anemia (IDA) is one of the most prevalent micronutrient defi ciencies particularly in the developing countries. While there is evidence of an altered immune profi le in iron defi ciency, the exact immunoregulatory role of iron is not known. Knowledge particularly in children, who are vulnerable to iron defi ciency and infection, is lacking. We aimed to study the effects of IDA and its treatment with oral iron supplementation on cell-mediated immunity. The levels of T-lymphocytes, their CD4 + , CD8 + and CD1a + subsets, transferrin receptor (CD71) and serum ferritin were evaluated in 40 iron-defi cient and 40 healthy children. The impact of oral iron supplementation for three months on the same parameters was also noted in children with IDA. The level of mature T-lymphocytes (CD4 + and CD8 + ) was signifi cantly lower (P<0.001) while that of the immature T-cells (CD1a + ) was signifi cantly higher (p<0.001) in IDA children compared to the control. The mature T-cell count was signifi cantly improved after iron therapy. In spite of signifi cant reduction in the immature T-cells (CD1a+) level after iron supplementation, it was signifi cantly higher than the control. The present study demonstrated that T-lymphocytes maturation was defective in IDA and improved partially after 3 months of iron supplementation. Therefore, longer time of iron therapy may be required to induce complete maturation of T-lymphocytes.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract