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Hepcidin and Ferritin Predict Microbial Etiology in Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Kjersti Oppen1,2,3, Thor Ueland2,3,4, William Ward Siljan5

  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Drammen Hospital, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Drammen, Norway.

Open Forum Infectious Diseases
|April 21, 2021
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Hepcidin and ferritin show promise as biomarkers for identifying the cause of community-acquired pneumonia. These iron-related proteins can help distinguish between atypical bacterial, typical bacterial, and viral infections.

Area of Science:

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Clinical Biochemistry
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Iron is essential for microbial survival and growth, making iron restriction a key host defense.
  • Investigating iron-related proteins as biomarkers for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is crucial.
  • Hypothesized that pathogen-specific changes in iron biomarkers could predict microbial etiology in CAP.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore iron and iron-related proteins as potential biomarkers in community-acquired pneumonia.
  • To determine if infection-induced changes in these biomarkers differ across pathogen groups.
  • To assess the predictive value of these biomarkers for microbial etiology in CAP.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective cohort study of 267 CAP patients.
  • Analysis of hepcidin, ferritin, iron, transferrin, and soluble transferrin receptor levels at multiple time points.
  • Predictive analysis included 111 patients with a single microbial etiology (atypical bacterial, typical bacterial, or viral).

Main Results:

  • High admission ferritin levels predicted atypical bacterial versus typical bacterial etiology (OR, 2.26; P = .014).
  • Hepcidin and ferritin predicted atypical bacterial versus viral etiology (Hepcidin OR = 3.12, P = .008; Ferritin OR = 2.38, P = .006).
  • These predictive findings were independent of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin levels.

Conclusions:

  • Hepcidin and ferritin are identified as potential biomarkers for predicting microbial etiology in CAP.
  • These biomarkers offer a novel approach to differentiate causative agents of pneumonia.
  • Further research can validate these findings for clinical application in diagnosing CAP etiology.
Keywords:
biomarkersferritinhepcidinironpneumonia

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