The pathogenesis of diabetes associated with hemochromatosis is not known. We therefore examined glucose homeostasis and beta-cell function in mouse models of hemochromatosis. Mice with targeted deletion of the hemochromatosis gene (Hfe(-/-)) on the 129/Sv genetic background exhibited a 72% increase in iron content in the islets of Langerhans compared with wild-type controls. Insulin content wa...

A positive iron balance inevitably leads to iron overload. 1 Excluding red blood cell transfusion, iron loading usually reflects an altered mucosal regulation of iron absorption, observed both in genetic conditions not associated with anemia and in iron-loading anemias. 2,3 The best characterized form of genetic iron overload is a common recessive HLA-linked disorder, initially called idiopathi...

Low levels of hepcidin are responsible for the development of iron overload in p.Cys282Tyr HFE related hemochromatosis. Every genetic factor lowering the hepcidin gene expression could contribute to a more severe phenotype in HFE hemochromatosis. Based on this hypothesis, we identified a heterozygous nc.-153 C>T mutation in the hepcidin gene promoter sequence in a patient homozygous for the p.C...

Hereditary HFE-linked hemochromatosis is a frequent recessive disorder among individuals of northern European ancestry. The clinical characteristic of this disease is the gradual accumulation of iron in internal organs, which ultimately may lead to organ damage and death. Three allelic variants of HFE gene have been correlated with hereditary hemochromatosis: C282Y is significantly associated w...

Classic hereditary hemochromatosis is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by iron overload and sequence variants in the HFE gene. The HFE gene is located at 6p21.3 and contains 2 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) C282Y and H63D, which are routinely tested for in the molecular diagnostics laboratory. In this study, we used DNA samples from 59 patients in which clinicians wa...

BACKGROUND To investigate whether the frequency of carriers of mutations in the HFE gene associated with hereditary hemochromatosis diminishes with age as an indication that HFE mutations are associated with increased mortality. It is of value in the debate concerning screening for hereditary hemochromatosis to determine the significance of heterozygosity. METHODS Genotyping for mutations in ...

BACKGROUND Porphyria cutanea tarda is the most common form of porphyria, characterized by the decreased activity of the uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase enzyme. Several reports associated HFE gene mutations of hereditary hemochromatosis with porphyria cutanea tarda worldwide, although up to date only one study has been conducted in Brazil. OBJECTIVES Investigation of porphyria cutanea tarda ass...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE Hemochromatosis is a common inherited disorder of iron metabolism and one of the most important causes of iron overload. The objective was to analyze the presence of C282Y, H63D and S65C mutations in the HFE gene and HLA-A alleles for a group of Brazilian patients with iron overload, and to correlate genotype with clinical and laboratory variables. DESIGN AND SETTING Pro...