The interleukin-6-hepcidin-hemoglobin circuit in systemic lupus erythematosus flares

D L Indrakanti1, A Alvarado1, X Zhang1

  • 11 Department of Medicine, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Department of Biostatistics, Ohio State University College of Public Health, USA.

Lupus
|July 16, 2016
PubMed

Objective Hepcidin regulates iron availability and may be responsible for the anemia of chronic disease because it is induced by interleukin-6. This study investigated the IL-6-hepcidin-hemoglobin axis in patients with lupus. Methods IL-6 and hepcidin were measured in serial serum samples collected before, during and after lupus flares by specific ELISAs. Results During renal and non-renal SLE flare cycles IL-6 did not predict hepcidin and hepcidin did not predict hemoglobin. When lupus nephritis patients were in remission, IL-6 and hepcidin were correlated, but hepcidin and hemoglobin were not. Conclusion Hepcidin does not contribute significantly to anemia during active lupus.