Elastography vs Iron Regulators in the Diagnosis of Hepatic Fibrosis- Iron Overload in Children With Beta- Thalassemia

Serum ferritin is a protein that stores iron, and high serum ferritin levels can suggest iron overload, but are also a common indicator of other conditions like inflammation, liver disease, or metabolic syndrome.

"Hepcidin hormone has been found to be a key regulator of iron homeostasis. It controls plasma iron levels by regulating two key steps in iron metabolism, namely digestive iron absorption in enterocytes and iron recycling in macrophages.~Hepcidin is synthesized predominantly in the hepatocytes, which is physiologically increased by elevated serum iron level and decreased by erythropoietic activity. Recently, hepcidin has been used as a new marker for evaluation of liver fibrosis in patients with thalassemia major."