Iron metabolism disorders in patients with hepatitis B-related liver diseases

Figure 1 Mean levels of serum iron markers and their standard errors among the four groups. A: Hepcidin; B: Serum iron; C: Serum ferritin; D: Transferrin; E: Transferrin saturation; F: Total iron binding capacity. ^aP < 0.05 vs HC; ^bP < 0.05 vs CHB; ^cP < 0.05 vs LC; ^dP < 0.05 vs HCC. HC: Healthy controls; CHB: Chronic hepatitis B; LC: Liver cirrhosis; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Figure 2 Serum iron markers among liver cirrhosis patients with different Child-Pugh classes. A: Hepcidin; B: Serum iron; C: Serum ferritin; D: Transferrin; E: Transferrin saturation; F: Total iron binding capacity. ^aP < 0.05 vs Child A; ^bP < 0.05 vs Child B; ^cP < 0.05 vs Child C. Child A: Child-Pugh class A; Child B: Child-Pugh class B; Child C: Child-Pugh class C.

Figure 3 Serum iron markers among hepatocellular carcinoma patients with different Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stages. A: Hepcidin; B: Serum iron; C: Serum ferritin; D: Transferrin; E: Transferrin saturation; F: Total iron binding capacity. ^aP < 0.05 vs Stage A; ^bP < 0.05 vs Stage B; ^cP < 0.05 vs Stage C; ^dP < 0.05 vs Stage D. Stage A: Stage A of BCLC; Stage B: Stage B of BCLC; Stage C: Stage C of BCLC; Stage D: Stage D of BCLC.

Figure 4 Iron deposition in liver tissues with fibrosis of different stages. Perls’ staining of iron appears as red granular particles in liver cells (× 400 magnification.) A-E: Different stages of liver fibrosis, respectively. Liver fibrosis was staged using the METAVIR scoring system, which consists of five stages: S0 (no fibrosis, n = 5), S1 (portal fibrosis without septa, n = 8), S2 (portal fibrosis with rare septa, n = 4), S3 (portal fibrosis with many septa, n = 7), and S4 (cirrhosis, n = 5). Markedly increased iron deposition was observed in the severe liver fibrosis (S3) and cirrhosis (S4) groups, but not in groups S0-S2. F: Significantly higher average iron retention (mean ± SEM) with severe fibrosis (S3: 23.7%) and cirrhosis (S4: 43.6%) compared to that with no or mild fibrosis (S0: 5.2%, S1: 7.9%; S2: 8.5%). A statistically significant difference in iron staining was observed among patients with severe fibrosis and cirrhosis (P < 0.05). ^aP < 0.05 vs S0; ^bP < 0.05 vs S1; ^cP < 0.05 vs S2; ^dP < 0.05 vs S3.