Suppression of iron-regulatory hepcidin by vitamin D.

Publication/Presentation Date

3-1-2014

Abstract

The antibacterial protein hepcidin regulates the absorption, tissue distribution, and extracellular concentration of iron by suppressing ferroportin-mediated export of cellular iron. In CKD, elevated hepcidin and vitamin D deficiency are associated with anemia. Therefore, we explored a possible role for vitamin D in iron homeostasis. Treatment of cultured hepatocytes or monocytes with prohormone 25-hydroxyvitamin D or active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D decreased expression of hepcidin mRNA by 0.5-fold, contrasting the stimulatory effect of 25-hydroxyvitamin D or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D on related antibacterial proteins such as cathelicidin. Promoter-reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses indicated that direct transcriptional suppression of hepcidin gene (HAMP) expression mediated by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D binding to the vitamin D receptor caused the decrease in hepcidin mRNA levels. Suppression of HAMP expression was associated with a concomitant increase in expression of the cellular target for hepcidin, ferroportin protein, and decreased expression of the intracellular iron marker ferritin. In a pilot study with healthy volunteers, supplementation with a single oral dose of vitamin D (100,000 IU vitamin D2) increased serum levels of 25D-hydroxyvitamin D from 27±2 ng/ml before supplementation to 44±3 ng/ml after supplementation (P

Volume

25

Issue

3

First Page

564

Last Page

572

ISSN

1533-3450

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Pediatrics

PubMedID

24204002

Department(s)

Department of Pediatrics

Document Type

Article

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