Hemochromatosis, Type 4 clinical trials

Analysis of the Modulation of Serum Hepcidin Level in Response to Iron Oral Intake: Potential Interest for the Differential Diagnosis Between Ferroportin Disease and Dysmetabolic Hepatosiderosis.

The diagnosis of iron overload is a common problem. It is important to optimize the diagnosis to ensure support for patients and their relatives especially regarding genetic disease. Iron overload revealed by a high level of serum ferritin and confirmed by the presence of an excessive amount of iron in the liver is a frequent situation. In a lot of case there is no increase in serum iron and transferrin saturation. This situation may arise in particular in patients with: - a genetic iron overload related to mutation in the ferroportine gene, leading to a ferroportin disease. The diagnosis is based on the sequencing of the gene, - a dysmetabolic hepatosiderosis, the most frequent situation , where iron overload is associated with abnormalities in the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats, whereas no genetic cause is identified. However, patients often have similar biological signs and despite the implementation of strict algorithm regarding the diagnostic procedure, it appears that a large number of patients are tested for the mutation in the ferroportin gene, and that mutation is not found in most cases. It is therefore essential to optimize the diagnosis process by introducing additional criteria. The investigators' hypothesis, based on the known elements, is that the response to a single dose of iron will modulate differently the iron parameters measured in serum, including hepcidin level which controls iron metabolism and metals associated with iron. This could be helpful for diagnosis procedure in patients with ferroportin disease or dysmetabolic hepatosiderosis.