Digital Commons Network^™

Monocyte Mri Relaxation Rates Are Regulated By Extracellular Iron And Hepcidin, Praveen S.B Dassanayake

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Monocytes are an important immune cell type in chronic inflammatory conditions like atherosclerosis and heart failure. The increase in number of monocytes released to the peripheral blood circulation, the differentiation of monocytes to macrophages, and the presence of different macrophage subpopulations during pro- and anti-inflammatory stages of tissue injury may provide markers for monitoring inflammation. In particular, changes in monocyte iron metabolism during an inflammatory response may increase the possibility of tracking these immune cells non-invasively using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). When secretion of the polypeptide hormone hepcidin is stimulated during inflammation, it binds the iron export protein ferroportin (FPN) …