US researchers have discovered a new hormone that regulates the iron supply needed for the production of red blood cells. According to a study published in "Nature Genetics", the erythroferrone hormone is produced by red blood-cell progenitors in the bone marrow.
Stimulating the production of erythrocytes increases the release of erythroferrone. Subsequently, the hormone regulates the hormone hepcidin, which controls the absorption of iron from food and its distribution in the body. The higher the erythroferrone level, the higher the likelihood that hepcidin is blocked, which, in turn, makes more iron available for the production of red blood cells.
Both too much as well as too little iron can make a person ill. "Modulating the activity of erythroferrone could be a viable strategy for the treatment of iron disorders of both overabundance and scarcity", explained senior author Tomas Ganz from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The discovery may lead to treatments of other diseases associated with anaemia, such as chronic kidney disease, rheumatic disorders or inflammatory diseases. Under these conditions, hepcidin is increased due to inflammation, whereby the iron is practically "locked up". Erythroferrone, or drugs that have the same effect, could suppress hepcidin and thereby make more iron available for the production of red blood cells.
Tomado de Univadis.com
Ref: Nature Genetics 46, 678–684 (2014)