Pocket-sized iron regulators: One size fits all?

In this issue of Blood, Casu et al report on results from their studies on potential therapeutic options to restrict iron as a treatment of 2 differing blood disorders: the anemia and iron overload associated with β-thalassemia, and the erythrocytosis associated with polycythemia vera (PV). They examine the use of derivatives of hepcidin, a 25-amino acid peptide secreted by the liver, which is widely accepted as the “iron stores” regulator.