Correlation Between Serum Ferritin and Hepcidin Levels in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

Background In addition to the known role of serum ferritin as an inflammatory mediator, its role in the induction of serum hepcidin is yet to be elucidated. This study aimed to identify a correlation between serum ferritin and hepcidin levels in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients and healthy individuals. Methodology A total of 44 male subjects, selected by convenient sampling technique, were included in this study. The study population was divided into group I including 22 healthy males and group II including age-matched 22 CHC patients. Serum hepcidin and serum ferritin levels of study participants in both groups were assessed. Serum parameters were compared between two groups using the Mann-Whitney U test. Spearman correlation test was applied between serum ferritin and serum hepcidin in each group. P-values of ≤0.05 were considered significant. Results The median values of serum ferritin in group I and group II were in the normal range, though serum ferritin of CHC patients was significantly higher than the healthy population (p = 0.03). The median values of serum hepcidin in both groups were below the normal range. In CHC patients, a negative nonsignificant correlation (rho = -0.34, p = 0.13) was observed between serum ferritin and serum hepcidin. A positive nonsignificant correlation (rho = 0.19, p = 0.4) was observed between serum ferritin and serum hepcidin in the healthy population. Conclusions Our study could not bring forth any conclusive remarks in favor of serum ferritin as an inflammatory mediator raising serum hepcidin levels among CHC patients. A negative nonsignificant correlation between studied parameters in CHC patients may indicate the involvement of some other factor such as hepatitis C virus in the reduction of serum hepcidin levels.