Hepcidin/ferroportin expression levels involve efficacy of pegylated-interferon plus ribavirin in hepatitis C virus-infected liver

Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients

Number of patients	100
SVR/non-SVR	63/37
Age (yr)	56.3 ± 7.4
Male/female	39/61
Genotype (1b/2a/2b)	50/17/33
HCV RNA (log IU/mL)	5.87 ± 0.95
Aspartate aminotransferase (< 30 IU/L)	51.1 ± 35.9
Alanine aminotransferase (< 30 IU/L)	61.8 ± 53.0
γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (< 50 IU/L)	50.7 ± 58.9
Fe (male, 55-200 μg/dL; female, 45-180 μg/dL)	130.3 ± 64.2
Unsaturated iron binding capacity (105-300 μg/dL)	215.1 ± 84.2
WBC (4000-9000/μL)	4987 ± 1303
Hemoglobin (male, 13-17; female, 11-15 g/dL)	13.6 ± 1.5
Platelet (11 × 104-35 × 104/μL)	19.6 ± 6.7
Dose reduction of ribavirin (%)	47

Normal range is presented in parenthesis. Measured values are shown in mean ± SD. SVR: Sustained virological response; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; WBC: White blood cell.

Table 2 Primer sets used for real-time polymerase chain reaction

Gene	Forward primer	Reverse primer
	5’ 3’	5’ 3’
Ferritin	CAGGTGCGCCAGAACTACCA	CCACATCATCGCGGTCAAAG
Transferrin	CGAAGACTGCATCGCCAAGA	ACACTTGCCCGCTATGTAGACAAAC
Hepcidin	AGCCTGACCAGTGGCTCTGT	TTCGCCTCTGGAACATGG
Ferroportin	AAGGGCAAGAATCCCAATTTAACTC	TGCCAGGCTGAAGGCTTACAC
TFR1	GCATGTGGCATGTTCATCGTATAA	TCTCAAGACCAGGAGCTTGTCACTA
TFR2	GCGACTGACACGCATGTACAAC	CCATGAAGATGTGGCGGAAC
DMT1	CTTGCGAGGCAATCTCAGGA	CTGAGACAGTGAACTTTGCAACCA
IRP1	GAAACAGTCCTGCTGCTCGCTAC	GAGCCATAGGAGTTGAATTCTCGTG
IRP2	TTTATCTCCAGGCAGTGGGATG	CTGCGTCTGATAAGGGTGCTGTA
BMPR1	TGGGAGTTGCTGCATTGCTGACC	ATGTAGCGTTTGGTGCCCACCC
BMPR2	GCCACAAATGTCCTGGATGGCA	GAGGGGCGCCACCGCTTAAG
BMP2	TTGCGCCAGGTCCTTTGACCAG	ACCTGGGGAAGCAGCAACGCTA
Hemojuvelin	TGCCAGACGGCTGTGCAAGG	CGGGCATCCTCCAGTGCTGC
RBBP6	GCGACCTGCAGATCACCAA	TGCCATCGCTGGTTCAGTTC

TFR: Transferrin receptor; DMT: Divalent metal transporter; IRP: Iron-regulatory protein; BMP: Bone morphogenetic protein; BMPR: BMP receptor; RBBP: Retinoblastoma binding protein.