Hepcidin ablation attenuates B abortus
–induced anemia and iron restriction.
(A) B abortus
–
treated Hamp-KO mice (HKO) develop milder anemia
than their WT counterparts and completely recover by 28 days.
Hamp-KO B abortus vs WT B
abortus, day 7 or 21, P < .05;
Hamp-KO B abortus vs WT B
abortus, day 14 or 28, P < .001, n
= 3 to 8 per time point. (B) Unlike their WT counterparts,
B abortus
–
injected Hamp-KO mice increase their serum iron
levels. Hamp-KO B abortus vs
Hamp-KO saline, day 14, P <
.05; WT B abortus vs WT saline, days 7, 14, 21, and 28,
P < .05. (C) B abortus
–
treated WT mice have dramatically increased RBC ZPP, indicating
iron-restricted erythropoiesis, compared with the very modest increases
of ZPP in Hamp-KO mice. (D) B abortus
–
treated Hamp-KO mice mobilize iron from liver
iron stores, whereas their WT counterparts mildly increase their stores
in the face of anemia. Hamp-KO B
abortus vs Hamp-KO saline, day 14,
P < .001; day 28, P <
.05. WT B abortus vs WT saline, day 7 or 14,
P < .001; day 21, P <
.05. Means ± SD are shown. P value by Student
t test or Mann-Whitney U test. WT
data shown in A-C are identical to those from Figure 1A-B,D.