Is it time for hepcidin to join the diagnostic toolkit for iron deficiency?

Abstract

Evaluation of: van Santen S, van Dongen-Lases EC, de Vegt F et al. Hepcidin and hemoglobin content parameters in the diagnosis of iron deficiency in rheumatoid arthritis patients with anemia. Arthritis Rheum. 63(12), 3672-3680 (2011). The diagnostic value of hepcidin, the master regulator of iron metabolism, as an index of iron status is being intensively investigated. van Santen et al. have reported the value of hepcidin as a test for iron deficiency in both noninflamed and inflamed anemic patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Their data show that serum hepcidin identifies iron deficiency in anemic rheumatoid arthritis patients. Based on these results, the authors offer cutoffs for hepcidin a..