Fang Jiang1, Wen-Jun Yu2, Xue-Hua Wang1, Yue-Ting Tang1, Li Guo1, Xiao-Yang Jiao3. 1. Department of Hematology Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, China. 2. Department of Hematology, the second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, China. 3. Department of Hematology Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, China. Electronic address: jiaoxiaoyang@yahoo.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: High prevalence and unresponsiveness to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents are 2 major limitations to the treatment of cancer-related anemia (CRA). They are often related to the dis-regulation of iron metabolism regulated by hepcidin, but the regulatory pathway of hepcidin in CRA is poorly understood. Enhanced GDF-15 levels contribute to the cancer progression and metastasis, and also have been found to suppress hepcidin expression in anemia characterized by ineffective erythropoiesis. The pathophysiological mechanisms and the relationship of GDF-15 and hepcidin in CRA remain to be elucidated. METHODS: The concentrations of hepcidin and GDF-15 as well as the hematological and the iron parameters were determined in sera from 131 patients with cancer and 40 healthy controls. RESULTS: Serum GDF-15 levels were increased significantly in patients with the severe CRA, compared with the mild or no CRA patients and the controls. Increasing GDF-15 levels corresponded to decreasing hepcidin concentrations. A trend toward a correlation between high levels of GDF-15 and poor prognosis of cancer was also found. Elevation of GDF-15 concentrations suppressed hepcidin expression at high concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that tumor progression results in increased GDF-15 secretion, which may down-regulate hepcidin expression, resulting in iron overload in cancer patients; this phenomenon has also been found in some patients with sideropenic anemia due to chronic blood loss.
BACKGROUND: High prevalence and unresponsiveness to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents are 2 major limitations to the treatment of cancer-related anemia (CRA). They are often related to the dis-regulation of iron metabolism regulated by hepcidin, but the regulatory pathway of hepcidin in CRA is poorly understood. Enhanced GDF-15 levels contribute to the cancer progression and metastasis, and also have been found to suppress hepcidin expression in anemia characterized by ineffective erythropoiesis. The pathophysiological mechanisms and the relationship of GDF-15 and hepcidin in CRA remain to be elucidated. METHODS: The concentrations of hepcidin and GDF-15 as well as the hematological and the iron parameters were determined in sera from 131 patients with cancer and 40 healthy controls. RESULTS: Serum GDF-15 levels were increased significantly in patients with the severe CRA, compared with the mild or no CRApatients and the controls. Increasing GDF-15 levels corresponded to decreasing hepcidin concentrations. A trend toward a correlation between high levels of GDF-15 and poor prognosis of cancer was also found. Elevation of GDF-15 concentrations suppressed hepcidin expression at high concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that tumor progression results in increased GDF-15 secretion, which may down-regulate hepcidin expression, resulting in iron overload in cancerpatients; this phenomenon has also been found in some patients with sideropenic anemia due to chronic blood loss.
Authors: Hanan Kamel M Saad; Alawiyah Awang Abd Rahman; Azly Sumanty Ab Ghani; Wan Rohani Wan Taib; Imilia Ismail; Muhammad Farid Johan; Abdullah Saleh Al-Wajeeh; Hamid Ali Nagi Al-Jamal Journal: Biomedicines Date: 2022-01-17