Bloodletting Ameliorates Insulin Sensitivity and Secretion in Parallel to Reducing Liver Iron in Carriers of HFE Gene Mutations
Response to Valenti et al.
- Melania Manco, MD, PHD1,
- Geltrude Mingrone, MD, PHD2,
- Valerio Nobili, MD1 and
- Francesco Equitani, MD3
- 1Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Bambino Gesù Hospital and Research Institute, Rome, Italy
- 2Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University, Rome, Italy
- 3Department of Transfusion Medicine, San Filippo Neri General Hospital, Rome, Italy
- Address correspondence to Melania Manco, MD, PhD, Dept. of Hepato-Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Bambino Gesù Hospital and Research Institute, S. Onofrio 4 Square, 00165 Rome, Italy. E-mail: melaniamanco{at}tiscali.it
We thank Valenti et al. (1) for their interest in our study and valuable comments. As they state, heterozygous H63D gene mutation is the most common mutation of the hemochromatosis (HFE) gene. Even though we reported one carrier alone of this mutation (2), we believe that diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in patients with clinical features of iron overload are not based on genetic …
