Rapidly Escalating Hepcidin and Associated Serum Iron Starvation Are Features of the Acute Response to Typhoid Infection in Humans.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Iron is a key pathogenic determinant of many infectious diseases. Hepcidin, the hormone responsible for governing systemic iron homeostasis, is widely hypothesized to represent a key component of nutritional immunity through regulating the accessibility of iron to invading microorganisms during infection. However, the deployment of hepcidin in human bacterial infections remains poorly characterized. Typhoid fever is a globally significant, human-restricted bacterial infection, but understanding of its pathogenesis, especially during the critical early phases, likewise is poorly understood. Here, we investigate alterations in hepcidin and iron/inflammatory indices following experimental human typhoid challenge.

Methodology/principal findings

Fifty study participant

SUBMITTER: Darton TC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4578949 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature