Gender-related variations in iron metabolism and liver diseases

Figure 1 Regulation of hepcidin and iron metabolism. The key iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin is primarily synthesized in the parenchymal cells of the liver and is subsequently released into the circulation. The transcriptional regulation of hepcidin in the liver is regulated by various factors. Hepcidin released into the circulation in turn regulates iron metabolism by controlling the iron transport in the duodenum and iron export in the macrophages. Hepcidin achieves this by binding to the iron exporter protein ferroportin and inducing its internalization and degradation.