BACKGROUND Iron is a pro-oxidant that may promote carcinogenesis. Mutations in the hemochromatosis (HFE) gene are associated with increased total body iron stores in some individuals. We assessed the risk of colon cancer among individuals with and without HFE gene mutations. METHODS We performed a population-based, case-control study in North Carolina. Case patients with colon cancer and cont...

In hereditary hemochromatosis (HH), intestinal absorption of dietary iron is increased, leading to excessive iron accumulation in tissues and resultant organ damage. The HFE protein, which is defective in HH, normally is expressed in crypt enterocytes of the duodenum where it has a unique, predominantly intracellular localization. In placenta, the HFE protein colocalizes with and forms a stable...

Hereditary haemochromatosis (HFE) is a common inherited disorder, affecting approximately five per thousand white people of northern European descent. Genetic linkage and linkage disequilibrium studies indicate that the disease locus is tightly linked to HLA-A and D6S105. Recombination between HFE and HLA class I loci is known to be rare. We report here two pedigrees in which recombinations tel...

Impaired regulation of hepcidin expression in response to iron loading appears to be the pathogenic mechanism for hereditary hemochromatosis. Iron normally induces expression of the BMP6 ligand, which, in turn, activates the BMP/Smad signaling cascade directing hepcidin expression. The molecular function of the HFE protein, involved in the most common form of hereditary hemochromatosis, is stil...

The C282Y mutation of HFE accounts for the majority of cases of the iron overload disease Hereditary Hemochromatosis (HH). The conformational changes introduced by this mutation impair the HFE association with β(2)-microglobulin (β(2)m) and the cell surface expression of the protein: with two major consequences. From a functional perspective, the ability of HFE to bind to transferrin receptors ...

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is an iron-overload disorder caused by a C282Y mutation in the HFE gene. In HH, plasma nontransferrin-bound iron (NTBI) levels are increased and NTBI is bound mainly by citrate. The aim of this study was to examine the importance of NTBI in the pathogenesis of hepatic iron loading in Hfe knockout mice. Plasma NTBI levels were increased 2.5-fold in Hfe knockout mi...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Most patients with hereditary hemochromatosis are homozygous for a Cys282AETyr mutation in the HFE gene. This mutation has been shown to impair the association of the HFE gene product with b(2)-microglobulin and to prevent its cell surface presentation in transfected COS-7 and 293 cells. This study was performed to examine the expression of HFE protein in epithelial cel...

Genetic haemochromatosis (HFE) is a frequent and potentially fatal disease. Early phlebotomies may prevent complications. The recessive gene for HFE is unknown but closely linked to the HLA-A locus. No direct test for homozygosity for HFE is currently available, apart from HLA typing within the family of a patient with confirmed HFE. During a reverse genetic approach to identify the gene, we fo...

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is an iron-overload disorder caused by a C282Y mutation in the HFE gene. In HH, plasma nontransferrin-bound iron (NTBI) levels are increased and NTBI is bound mainly by citrate. The aim of this study was to examine the importance of NTBI in the pathogenesis of hepatic iron loading in Hfe knockout mice. Plasma NTBI levels were increased 2.5-fold in Hfe knockout mi...

Because body iron burden is inversely associated with lead absorption, genes associated with hemochromatosis may modify body lead burden. Our objective was to determine whether the C282Y and/or H63D hemochromatosis gene (HFE) is associated with body lead burden. Patella and tibia lead levels were measured by K X-ray fluorescence in subjects from the Normative Aging Study. DNA samples were genot...