Table 4. Four studies that analyzed hepcidin as a potential biomarker and/or the correlation between hepcidin and ferritin.
| Author | Year | Journal | Setting | Biomarker | Hepcidin / ferritin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drakou[32] | 2016 | Blood Cells Mol Dis. | 78 predialysis CKD (stage III-IV) patients with anemia and ferritin levels < 100ng/ml, treatment with 1g of FCM, classification as responders and non-responders (one month after FCM administration), investigation of hepcidin levels in both groups | + | + |
| Steensma[33] | 2015 | Blood | Cancer patients with chemotherapy-associated anemia, treatment with darbepoetin alfa and IV iron, classification as responders and non-responders, investigation of hepcidin levels in both groups | + | - |
| Sonnweber[34] | 2011 | Nephrol Dial Transplant. | 24 haemodialysis patients, treatment with a single dose of 100mg IV iron sucrose (intervention group) or with saline (control group), blood draws before iron administration at day 0, after 48h and 1 week, immediately before dialysis, measurement of serum hepcidin retrospectively | + | + |
| Weiss[35] | 2009 | Eur J Clin Invest. | 20 chronic haemodialysis patients, baseline measurement of hepcidin levels, treatment with (a) erythropoietin, (b) IV iron (iron saccharose) and (c) a combination of iron and erythropoietin, investigation if dialysis procedure influences hepcidin levels and how treatment (erythopoietin and iron) change hepcidin levels | / | + |
Table 4 depicts four studies, that also investigated the potential of hepcidin as a biomarker for the response to iron treatment and/or the correlation between hepcidin and ferritin. Three studies were performed in CKD patients, one in patients under cancer therapy. Three authors are in accordance (+) with the current pilot study and concluded that hepcidin levels might predict the response to iron treatment (column “biomarker”). One study did not investigate (/) the role of hepcidin as a potential biomarker. Three of the studies listed in Table 4 stated that there was a statistically noticeable correlation between hepcidin and ferrtitin (+); one did not show a correlation between these two parameters (-) (last column “hepcidin/ferritin”).