Abstract
Acute leukemia (AL) is a heterogeneous group of hematopoietic neoplasms and it is the most common childhood malignancy. Many patients with AL develop severe anemia that requires multiple blood transfusions. Hepcidin expression may play a role in anemia which is often seen in these patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of hepcidin in acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children in Egypt. 60 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 20 age and gender matched healthy children, taken as control group, were included in the study. Complete blood count (CBC), Serum ALT and serum AST were measured by colorimetric methods. Serum hepcidin and ferritin were measured by ELISA. The study showed a significant difference between newly diagnosed ALL cases and other groups regarding all CBC parameters. There was a significant difference in serum levels of hepcidin and ferritin between studied groups. A significant negative correlation was found between serum level of hepcidin and ferritin and each of hemoglobin level and reticulocytic count %, while significant positive correlation was found between hepcidin and ferritin serum levels. From this study, it could be concluded that serum hepcidin level is elevated in ALL children patients at time of diagnosis and correlates with the disease extent. Hepcidin may be one of the serum markers that accounting for anemia associated with ALL in children.