Minihepcidin treatment is beneficial even in mice with intact hepcidin regulation and iatrogenic iron overload. WT mice were iron loaded through IP injection of 20 mg of iron dextran on day −1, then orally infected with 10⁸ CFUs of Y enterocolitica O9 on day 0 and treated with solvent or minihepcidin (100 nmol per day) for 10 days. (A-B) Liver and serum iron levels. (C) Bacterial dissemination to liver, spleen, and blood assessed by CFUs (whole liver and spleen). (D) Gross pathology of liver and spleen, with many abscesses visible in the tissues from solvent group. Scale bar, 1 cm. (E) Abscess proportion analysis (χ² test) showed abscess formation predominantly in solvent-treated animals, whereas minihepcidin treatment rescued the phenotype. Statistical analysis was done using the Student t test for normally distributed data (A; B; C: liver CFUs) and the Mann-Whitney U test for data that are not normally distributed (C). Data in panel F were analyzed using the χ² test.