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Hepcidin as a diagnostic marker of iron deficiency in blood donors
Pandeep Kaur1, Gagandeep Kaur2, Paramjit Kaur2
1Department of Transfusion Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, 249203, India.
Background:
Blood donors are prone to have iron deficiency. The aim of this study was to determine utility of serum hepcidin as an indicator of iron deficiency in blood donors.
Methods:
A total of 200 voluntary, healthy blood donors were included in the study. Donors were categorized into four groups according to the donation frequency. Group I: (n = 50) who donated for the first time, or those who have not donated in the past 2 years (reactivated donors). Group II: (n = 50), who donated blood for the second time and had donated once in the previous 12 months. Group III: (n = 50), who donated blood for third time and had donated twice in the previous 12 months. Group IV: (n = 50) who donated blood for the fourth time and had donated thrice in the previous 12 months. Sera of study participants were evaluated for serum ferritin and serum hepcidin levels based on enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.
Results:
Serum hepcidin concentration ranged 2.36-15734 pg/mL. Serum hepcidin and serum ferritin were found to be lowest in group IV donors. When serum ferritin concentration of less than 15 ng/mL was considered as gold standard for diagnosing iron deficiency, AUCROC for serum hepcidin as a diagnostic test of iron deficiency was found to be 0.715. Serum hepcidin showed statistical significant correlation with donation frequency(p = 0 .005) and serum ferritin (p = 0.01). Sensitivity and specificity of serum hepcidin was found to be 77.8 %, 79.6 % respectively.
Conclusion:
Effectiveness of Serum hepcidin as a diagnostic marker of iron deficiency still needs to be determined.
