Hormone That Controls Supply of Iron In RBC Discovered

Scientists Discover Hormone That Controls Supply of Iron Needed In Red Blood Cells Production

Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles have found a new hormone that is important for the regulation of the iron supply needed for red blood cell creation. This hormone is called erythroferrone.

Iron is critical for the regulation of red-cell production throughout the human body. This is an essential functional component of hemoglobin which transports oxygen. Too little iron in the human body causes anemia. But excessive iron leads to liver and organ damage. Dr. Tomas Ganz who has conducted this study and it the professor of medicine and pathology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine has discussed how modulation of the activity of the hormone could be used to provide treatment for excessive or too less levels of iron in the human body.

The hormone is also composed of RBC progenitors in the bone marrow which link the supply of iron with red blood cell production. When there is stimulation of red blood cell production, there is a significant increase in the hormone.

Previous research work had suggested that the regulation of hepcidin may have been through secretions by the bone marrow, according to the first author of the study, Leon Kautz. The researchers were searching for a new substances made in the bone marrow that could perform this function. Instead they found that a specific protein was secreted in the blood and it belonged to a family of proteins involved in inter-cellular communication.

Researchers concluded that this scientific discovery could help to treat congenital blood disorders associated with the destruction of red blood cells. Oversecretion of erythroferrone could trigger iron overload in un-transfused patients and lead to an overload of this mineral in transfused patients, accordign to Elizabeta Mnemeth, co-director of the UCLA centre for iron disorders and professor of medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.

Iron is essential for the development of hemoglobin which transports oxygen throughout the human body. Using a mouse model, scientists discovered that erythroferrone comprises of red blood-cell progenitors in the bone marrow to ensure match of iron supply with demand of RBC production. This hormone is greatly increased when RBC production is stimulated such as in response to anemia or following blood loss.

This hormone reacts by regulating the main iron hormone which is known as hepcidin. This hormone is responsible for the absorption of iron from the food and the distribution of this mineral in the body. Increased amount of the erythroferrone hormone leads to suppression of hepcidin and causes more iron to be prevalent for RBC production.

With this new research paving the way for progress in the treatment of medical disorders such as anemia, scientists have scored yet another victory for making human life more comfortable.