Elevated Serum Hepcidin and Increased Hepcidin Synthesis in Biopsy Specimens in Patients with Giant Cell Arteritis

Hepcidin is a 25amino acid disulfide-rich peptide that acts as a systemic iron-regulatory hormone. Hepcidin synthesis increases during inflammation, trapping iron in macrophages and decreasing plasma iron concentrations. Increased hepcidin synthesis underlies the phenomenon of the anemia of chronic disease. Hepcidin was recently thought to be produced exclusively in the liver, but has recently been shown to be synthesized in Mller cells, where hepcidin appears to regulate retinal iron levels.