Ineffective Erythropoiesis in β-Thalassemia Is Characterized by Increased Iron Absorption Mediated by down Regulation of Hepcidin and up Regulation of Ferroportin.

Progressive iron overload occurs in β-thalassemia as a result of increased gastrointestinal absorption. Our goal is to investigate the relationship between ineffective erythropoiesis (IE), iron-related genes and organ iron distribution in mice that exhibit levels of anemia consistent with thalassemia intermedia (th3/+) and major (th3/th3), as we described previously. The th3/th3 mice die in 8 weeks due to severe anemia but can be rescued by transfusion therapy. We analyzed up to 90 animals at 2, 5 and 12 months, as appropriate. We monitored various hematological parameters, tissue iron content and quantitative-PCR levels of Hamp, Fpn1, Smad4, Cebpa, Hfe, Tfr1 and other genes involved in iron metabolism in liver, spleen, kidney, heart and duodenum. At 2 months, th3/th3 mice had the highest total body iron content and highest degree of IE. The total iron was 53.6±21.0, 406.1±156.1, 657.7±40.3 μg in the spleen, and 107.5±35.7, 208.5±24.9 and 1298.7±427.5 μg in the liver of +/+, th3/+ and th3/th3, respectively (n≥5 per genotype). However, if the organ size was not taken in account, the iron concentration in the spleen of th3/+ was higher, in average, than that of th3/th3 mice (3.8±1.5 and 2.9±0.5 μg/mg), while in the liver was the opposite (0.6±0.1 and 5.1±2.0 μg/mg of dry weight, P<0.001). Heme and non-heme iron analyses provided similar results. Surprisingly, the distribution of iron within organs also differed. In th3/+ mice, the hepatic iron was almost exclusively located in Kupffer cells, whereas in th3/th3 mice in parenchymal cells. Our data suggest that Hamp is responsible for the increased iron absorption, being reduced to 20% and 70% in 2 month-old th3/+ and th3/th3 mice compared to +/+ animals (P<0.001). Hfe was reduced by 50% (P<0.05) in the liver of the animals that expressed low Hamp levels, indicating that Hfe could be directly responsible for Hamp regulation or share the same regulatory pathway. Low levels of Smad4 and Cebpa were observed only in the liver of mice with the lowest Hamp expression (P<0.05), indicating that these proteins might contribute to further decreased Hamp synthesis. In addition, while Tfr1 in th3/+ mice was 40% lower in the liver, it was up-regulated (400%) in th3/th3 mice (P<0.001), which may explain why iron is increased more in the liver of th3/th3 mice. In 5 and 12 month-old th3/+ mice, the surprising observation was the normal expression level of Hamp. However, in the duodenum, the Fpn1 RNA and protein levels were augmented (300%, P<0.001). In transfused th3/+ and th3/th3 animals, Hamp, Hfe, Cbpa and Smad4 expression levels were normalized or increased, while Tfr1 was down-regulated in both groups, which may explain the increased splenic iron deposition in these animals. Our data suggest that IE, together with the relative expression levels of Hamp and Tfr1, is largely responsible for the organ iron overload observed in young thalassemic mice. However, in older mice, it is the increase of Fpn1 levels in the duodenum that sustains iron accumulation, thus revealing a fundamental role of this iron transporter in the genesis of iron overload in β-thalassemia.