Hormone that controls iron levels may be target for atherosclerosis treatment, researchers find

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, USA, have identified hepcidin, a hormone that regulates iron levels in the body, as a potential target for treating atherosclerosis.

Suppressing hepcidin is a way to reduce the iron levels inside the white blood cells found in arterial plaques. Reducing iron levels pushes those cells to clean up harmful cholesterol in a process called "reverse cholesterol transport," interfering with atherosclerosis, researchers have found.

The data was being presented this week by Aloke Finn, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and colleague Omar Saeed at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting in Orlando. Charles Hong, from Vanderbilt University and collaborators from CVPath Institute contributed to the research.