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Hepcidin and Trypanosoma brucei infection
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Figure 4. Hematologic and serum parameters and tissue iron content in C57BL/6 and Hamp-/- mice. Blood, serum and tissue samples were collected at 1, 4, 7, 14 and 21 days post-infection with T.b. brucei. Hematologic and serum parameters were blindly determined by a certified laboratory and tissue iron content was meas- ured by the bathophenanthroline method. (A) Red blood cells (RBC), (B) reticulocytes, (C) hematocrit (HCT), (D) hemoglobin (Hb), (E) mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum iron [Fe], (G) transferrin saturation (TSAT), (H) total iron binding capacity (TIBC), (I) serum ferritin, (J) total liver iron [Fe], (K) total spleen iron [Fe]. Values are represented as mean±standard deviation (n=5). Differences among groups were considered significant at P<0.05, P<0.01, and P<0.001, represented respectively by the letters a, b, c between control and infected C57BL/6 mice, d, e, f between control and infected Hamp-/- mice, g, h, i between infected groups and j, k, l between control groups.
complete reversal of anemia and a return to normal condi- tions, indicating a more severe anemia was established in the wild-type animals (Figure 4A, C and D). A significant increase in reticulocyte numbers and MCV was also observed at later stages of infection in both wild-type and knockout mice (Figure 4B and E). Variations in serological parameters and tissue iron content in C57BL/6 mice were mostly comparable to BALB/c, with decreases in serum iron levels and transferrin saturation (Figure 4F and G), increases in TIBC (Figure 4H), as well as in liver and spleen iron
(Figure 4J and K, and Online Supplementary Figure S3) with no changes in ferritin levels (Figure 4, panel I). In Hamp-/- mice, only a similar increase in TIBC (Figure 4H) was observed, as well as increases in liver and spleen iron (Figure 4J and K) with no changes in transferrin saturation (Figure 4G). Furthermore, despite the higher levels of serum iron and circulating ferritin, when compared with C57BL/6, increases in both parameters were also observed in the early days of infection, with recoveries to near normal towards the end (Figure 4F and I).
haematologica | 2021; 106(3)
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