Correlation between serum hepcidin level and stages of chronic kidney disease: A cross sectional study

Introduction: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) has been associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Despite significant numbers of cases, biomarkers related to iron status and development of anaemia in these patients has not been looked upon extensively. Few biomarkers have been studied, one of which is serum hepcidin levels. We aimed to estimate the serum hepcidin levels in patients with CKD and its correlation with its successive stages. Materials and Methods: The study design was cross-sectional observational study. 51 patients of CKD KDIGO stage II to V were included and patients of obstructive uropathy or malignancy or transplant recipient were excluded from the study. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between serum hepcidin levels and Stages of CKD in terms of eGFR. Results: The mean serum hepcidin levels which were found in Stage II, III, IV and V of CKD patients was 65.48, 116.03, 136.61 and 160.37 ng/ml respectively. There was a strong negative correlation between eGFR and serum hepcidin level, and this correlation was statistically significant (r = -1.0, p = <0.001). The Krushkal-Wallis Test also provided p value of <0.001 when stages of CKD and serum hepcidin levels were correlated. Conclusion: There was significant positive correlation of serum hepcidin with the stages of CKD (P < 0.001) and the levels of serum hepcidin were found to be significantly higher as the stage increased. Thus, serum hepcidin may be used as a marker of iron metabolism, prognosis and progress of disease in the CKD patients.