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Hepcidin and Trypanosoma brucei infection
AB
CD
EF
Figure 6. Gene expression in the liver, spleen and kidney of C57BL/6 and Hamp-/- mice after experimental infection with T.b. brucei. Relative mRNA expression of several genes was measured 1, 4, 7, 14, and 21 days post infection, by real-time poymerase chain reaction. (A) liver Hamp1, (B) liver FPn1, (C) spleen Hbb, (D) spleen Erfe, (E) spleen Twsg1, (F) kidney Epo. Values are represented as means ± 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.
knockout mice. Increases in the expression of Epo were also observed in the kidney of both C57BL/6 and Hamp- /- infected mice, remaining elevated throughout the infec- tion in C57BL/6 mice, but decreasing at day 21 in Hamp- /- mice (Figure 6F). Despite the drive for enhanced ery- thropoiesis being present in both wild-type and knock- out mice, Erfe was only up-regulated in C57BL/6 mice, similar to BALB/c, but no changes in expression were observed in Hamp-/- mice (Figure 6D). Ferroportin protein
levels were also measured in the liver, spleen and duode- num of C57BL/6 and Hamp-/-. In the liver, variations in protein levels closely matched the variations in mRNA expression, with significant decreases in both C57BL/6 and Hamp-/- mice at days 1 and 4 followed by gradual recoveries towards day 21, although earlier and stronger in Hamp-/- (Figure 7A). In the spleen, ferroportin levels gradually decreased until they were no longer detected up to day 4, followed by a recovery up to day 21, but
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