Is the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin a risk factor for alcoholic liver disease?

Figure 1 The Iron regulatory hormone hepcidin. Hepcidin is synthesized in the hepatocytes of the liver as an 84 amino acid precursor protein. It is subsequently cleaved into the 25 amino acid biologically active peptide form and is released into the circulation. Hepcidin plays a central role in the regulation of iron metabolism by inhibiting the release of iron from the enterocytes of the duodenum and from reticuloendothelial macrophages. Hepcidin blocks the export of iron from these cells by binding to the iron exporter protein, ferroportin, which induces the internalization and degradation of ferroportin protein. As a soluble mediator, hepcidin establishes the cross-talk between distant organs in the body in order to maintain iron homeostasis.