Assessment of serum bioactive hepcidin-25, soluble transferrin receptor and their ratio in predialysis patients: Correlation with the response to intravenous ferric carboxymaltose

No reliable biomarker exists to predict responsiveness to intravenous (IV) iron (Fe) in iron deficient patients with CKD. We aimed to investigate the clinical value of bioactive Hepcidin-25 and soluble Transferrin Receptor (sTfR) levels in predialysis patients. In this prospective study 78 stable stage III-IV CKD predialysis patients with (responders) (40 patients) and without (non-responders) (38 patients) adequate erythropoiesis after IV administration of ferric-carboxymaltose (FCM). Patients were divided in two groups according to their response to IV administration of ferric-carboxymaltose (FCM). Along with measurements of common hematologic and blood chemistry parameters, determinations of sTfR and bioactive Hepcidin-25 were performed. Results: Hepcidin-25 levels were lower in the responders (p=0.025), while sTfR and sTfR/Hepcidin-25 ratio were higher (p