Serological Study Of Iron Metabolism In Chronic Hepatitis B Patients And The Effects Of HBV On Iron Metabolism In Hepatocytes

Objective : Analysis of the correlation between serum iron markers and severity of liver inflammation in patients with chronic hepatitis B(CHB)and the effect of HBV on hepatocyte iron metabolism.Methods: We enrolled 41 CHB patients and 20 healthy controls(HCs)in a retrospective study and investigated the correlations between iron markers and liver function indicators in CHB patients.Parameters of iron status included serum iron(SI),ferritin(SF),transferrin(TRF),soluble transferrin receptor(s Tf R),transferrin saturation(TS),total iron-binding capacity(TIBC),unsaturated iron-binding capacity(UIBC),and hepcidin(HEPC).Liver function indicators included serum alanine transaminase(ALT)and albumin(ALB).Finally,the alterations in ferritin,TRF,Tf R,and hepcidin expression were detected by RT-PCR,western blot,and cell immunofluorescence after Hep G2 cells and Huh7 cells were transfected with the p SM2-HBV plasmid.We also measured these alterations between Hep G2 cells and Hep G2.215 cells.Results: Compared with healthy controls,the CHB patients were more likely to have lower levels of serum hepcidin,TRF,s Tf R,TIBC,and UIBC and higher levels of SI,SF,and TS(P<0.01,all).After Spearman correlation analysis,the levels of SI(r=0.438,P=0.004)and SF(r=0.585,P<0.001)correlated positively with ALT concentrations in CHB patients,and the serum hepcidin concentrations correlated positively with albumin concentrations in CHB patients(r=0.422,P=0.006).The expression levels of ferritin,transferrin,and hepcidin m RNA and protein were significantly higher in Hep G2.215 cells than in Hep G2 cells,while expression levels of s Tf R were lower.The alterations in these iron markers in Hep G2 and Huh7 cells that were transfected with p SM2-HBV plasmid were consistent with those in Hep G2.215 cells.Conclusions: Serum iron markers tended to be abnormal in CHB patients,and the levels of SI and SF in CHB patients were positively correlated with ALT,suggesting that they were positively correlated with the severity of liver inflammation.Furthermore,a positive correlation between serum hepcidin levels and serum albumin levels was observed in CHB patients,indicating that the decreased serum hepcidin levels may be correlated with liver synthetic capacity.In hepatocytes,HBV promoted the expression of ferritin,transferrin,and hepcidin,while it inhibited the expression of Tf R.