الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
Abstract
hepcidin is a molecule playing a key rolele in iron homeostasis. It is produced mainly by the liver. Production of hepcidin is controlled by various stimuli and factors. chronic Hepatitis C is known to be often accompanied by varying degrees of iron overload. Several studies evaluated the relationship between hepatic iron content and the risk of development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
This study was conducted at Ain Shams University Hospital on three groups of subjects each of 25 subjects. A group of healthy control, a group of patients with chronic benign liver disease on top of chronic HCV infection and a group of HCC patients on top of chronic HCV infection to study serum hepcidin level with other iron parameters in the three groups.
Serum hepcidin level was significantly lower in patients with HCC compared to patients with CLD and control. We analyzed the individuals in both patients groups to find out the explanation of the significant decrease in hepcidin in HCC group. Serum hepcidin level is significantly lower in CHILD C patients compared to CHILD A and B patients. Other iron
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Summary and Conclusion
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parameters are correlated with this; serum iron and ferritin increase with disease progression according to CHILD score. Further analysis showed no significant difference in iron parameters in patients with similar CHILD class (A, C). Some difference was found between patients in CHILD B because it is an overlapping stage between mild and advanced cirrhosis.
We also found that iron parameters are not significantly affected in early cirrhosis (CHILD A) compared to control. Iron parameters are significantly affected in advanced cirrhosis.
There was a direct correlation between hepcidin and each of iron and ferritin. This correlation was inversed in the patients group.
We concluded that serum hepcidin is not an accurate marker for HCC diagnosis but it accurately distinguishes patients with advanced cirrhosis.