BACKGROUND The human HFE gene (a key component of iron homeostasis in humans) is involved in hereditary hemochromatosis, a common autosomal recessive genetic disorder that is characterized by excessive intestinal iron absorption and progressive iron overload. OBJECTIVES In this study, we assessed the frequency of two common forms of hemochromatosis HFE gene mutation (C282Y and H63D) in patien...

Iron participates in oxygen transport, energetic, metabolic, and immunologic processes. There are 2 main causes of iron overload: hereditary hemochromatosis which is a primary cause, is a metabolic disorder caused by mutations of genes that control iron metabolism and secondary hemochromatosis caused by multitransfusions, chronic hemolysis, and intake of iron rich food. The most common type of ...

Brunke KJ, Drayna DT, Risch NJ, Bacon BR, Wolff RK: A novel MHC class I-like gene is mutated in patients with hereditary hemochromatosis. Nat Genet 13:399, 1996 3. Jazwinska EC, Cullen LM, Busfield F, Puper WR, Webbe SI, Powell LW, Morris CP, Walsh TP: Hemochromatosis and HLA-H. Nat Genet 14:249, 1996 4. Jouanolle AM, Gandon G, Jezequel P, Blayau M, Campion ML, Yaouanq J, Mosser J, Fergelot P, ...

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a highly prevalent genetic disorder characterized by excessive parenchymal iron accumulation leading to liver cirrhosis, diabetes, and in some cases hepatocellular carcinoma. HH is caused by mutations in the genes encoding upstream regulators of hepcidin or more rarely in the hepcidin gene itself. A deficit in hepcidin results in intestinal iron hyperabsorptio...

It is not unusual for a disease to be considered rare when first described and to prove to be much more prevalent as the medical profession becomes aware of its existence. This seemed to be the case with hereditary hemochromatosis. But now the perception that hemochromatosis is a common disease has undergone a sudden reversal. Although everyone does not yet agree, the data that have accumulated...

A rational evaluation by insurance medical directors of an applicant for life or health insurance requires not only adequate information from a prospective insuree, but current knowledge concerning a common genetic disorder such as genetic hemochromatosis (GH), and the routine use of an appropriate screening test for GH of all applicants. Such an evaluation could make a vital difference in prog...

The term ‘hemochromatosis’ was first used by von Recklinghausen, a German pathologist in the late 1800s [1]; he determined that the pigmentation seen in patients with advanced hemochromatosis was due to iron. In 1935, Joseph Sheldon, a British geriatrician, published a monograph describing over 300 patients with hemochromatosis [2]. He concluded that the disorder was an inherited defect with al...