Hepcidin levels greater than 65 ng/mL also more accurately predicted bacterial infections than values below 65 ng/mL (11.7% vs. 2.1%, Odds ratio 8.4, 95% confident interval 1.7-40.9, p = 0.002).
These results demonstrate that hepcidin exhibits different functions in extracellular and intracellular bacterial infections, which suggests that different defense strategies should be taken to prevent bacterial infection.
Serum hepcidin values did not differ notably between children with viral and bacterial infection, but a significant reduction of hepcidin was noted in both groups post-infection.
Hepcidin is also present in the bile and elevated prohepcidin levels were observed in bile of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) patients with concurrent bacterial cholangitis compared to PSC subjects without bacterial infection (median values 22.3 vs. 8.9; p = 0.03).
These findings provide fundamental comparative data showing the relationship of porcine hepcidin and LEAP-2 to other mammalian orthologs and indicate that bacterial infections influence their expression.