The relationship of hepcidin, soluble transferrin receptor, growth differentiation factor-15 and anemia in multipl myeloma

Objective: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant hematological disease and anemia is observed in the majority of patients. Hepcidin, Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) have been investigated in many forms of anemia, especially in chronic diseases and cancers. However, there are few studies investigating their role in MM. We aimed to determine the relationship between hepcidin, sTfR and GDF-15 levels in MM patients and their clinical features such as anemia parameters, disease stage and overall survival. Method: Hepcidin, sTfR and GDF-15 levels, as well as clinical and anemia-related parameters, were analyzed in newly diagnosed MM patients and healthy volunteers. Result: Although MM patients had significantly lower Hb and Hct levels compared to the control group, none of the GDF-15, hepcidin and sTfR levels showed a significant difference between the groups. Among MM patients, we found that the anemic subgroup had significantly lower hepcidin levels than the non-anemic subgroup. GDF-15, hepcidin and sTfR levels showed weak or moderate positive correlation with each other, while GDF15 was positively correlated with creatinine and sTfR levels were correlated with many parameters such as LDH, CRP, ferritin, albumin, creatinine, Hb and ISS, all of which weak. None of the levels of GDF-15, hepcidin and sTfR had a significant effect on survival. Conclusion: We suggested that these mediators may play a role in anemia of MM but there is not a clear relashionship as in chronic disease anemia, there may be different mechanisms according to the characteristics of the patient groups.