The relationship between systemic iron homeostasis and erythropoiesis

Red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) is the single largest consumer of iron in the body; this need is satisfied by maintaining a sensitive regulation of iron levels. The level of erythropoietic demand regulates the expression of the iron hormone hepcidin and thus iron absorption. Erythropoiesis-mediated regulation of hepcidin is an area of increasing importance and recent studies have identified a number of potential regulatory proteins. This review summarizes our current knowledge about these candidate erythroid regulators of hepcidin and the relation between transferrin receptors and erythropoiesis.