TY - JOUR
T1 - Hepatic iron overload in blacks and whites
T2 - A comparative autopsy study
AU - Brown, Kyle E.
AU - Khan, Chaudhary M.
AU - Zimmerman, M. Bridget
AU - Brunt, Elizabeth M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Dr. Hyung Doo Chung, Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the John Cochran Veterans Affairs Medical Center, for his support of this study; Rosemary O’Neill for performing the iron quantitation; Maxine Maeder for technical assistance; and Cathey Cawthorne for help with data collection. We also are grateful to Dr. Bruce Bacon for his helpful advice and to Dr. Leonard Grosso for his efforts in attempting to perform genotyping on the archived tissue. K.E.B. was supported by the Medical Research Service of the Veterans Administration.
PY - 2003/7/1
Y1 - 2003/7/1
N2 - OBJECTIVE: Genetic susceptibility to iron loading is an important factor in the development of iron overload in Africans. This suggests that persons of African descent may be at risk to develop iron overload with its attendant complications, but relatively little is known about hepatic iron overload among blacks. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence, histological features, and clinical correlates of hepatic iron overload in a group of autopsied black and white veterans. METHODS: Hepatic iron concentrations (HIC) were determined on liver tissue from autopsies performed at the John Cochran Veterans Affairs Medical Center during the period 1993 to 1996. Clinical information was obtained from autopsy protocols. Sections from livers in which the HIC exceeded the upper limit of normal were examined histologically. RESULTS: Of 256 specimens, 99 were from blacks (39%), whereas 157 were from whites (61%). Thirty-one blacks (31%) had an elevated HIC versus 44 whites (28%) (ns). In the majority of these cases (18 blacks, 30 whites), the HIC was less than twice the upper limit of normal. Nine of 15 subjects with an HIC greater than twice the upper limit of normal and no evident cause of secondary iron overload were black. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of mild-to-moderate hepatic iron overload was similar in this group of black and white veterans. Because of the inherent limitations of autopsy studies, prospective assessment of iron stores in healthy blacks is needed to determine more accurately the prevalence and clinical significance of iron overload in this population.
AB - OBJECTIVE: Genetic susceptibility to iron loading is an important factor in the development of iron overload in Africans. This suggests that persons of African descent may be at risk to develop iron overload with its attendant complications, but relatively little is known about hepatic iron overload among blacks. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence, histological features, and clinical correlates of hepatic iron overload in a group of autopsied black and white veterans. METHODS: Hepatic iron concentrations (HIC) were determined on liver tissue from autopsies performed at the John Cochran Veterans Affairs Medical Center during the period 1993 to 1996. Clinical information was obtained from autopsy protocols. Sections from livers in which the HIC exceeded the upper limit of normal were examined histologically. RESULTS: Of 256 specimens, 99 were from blacks (39%), whereas 157 were from whites (61%). Thirty-one blacks (31%) had an elevated HIC versus 44 whites (28%) (ns). In the majority of these cases (18 blacks, 30 whites), the HIC was less than twice the upper limit of normal. Nine of 15 subjects with an HIC greater than twice the upper limit of normal and no evident cause of secondary iron overload were black. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of mild-to-moderate hepatic iron overload was similar in this group of black and white veterans. Because of the inherent limitations of autopsy studies, prospective assessment of iron stores in healthy blacks is needed to determine more accurately the prevalence and clinical significance of iron overload in this population.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0038721671&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2003.07538.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2003.07538.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 12873584
AN - SCOPUS:0038721671
SN - 0002-9270
VL - 98
SP - 1594
EP - 1598
JO - American Journal of Gastroenterology
JF - American Journal of Gastroenterology
IS - 7
ER -