Association of monocyte hepcidin mRNA levels with monocyte ferroportin/ferritin expression and intracellular iron levels. (A) Freshly isolated blood monocytes were subjected to protein and RNA preparation for subsequent Western blotting and TaqMan PCR for determination of protein levels of ferroportin, ferritin, and β-actin as well as hepcidin mRNA levels. For Western blotting, one of 4 representative experiments is shown. (B) Freshly isolated blood monocytes were used for intracellular iron measurement by atom absorption technique as described in “Intracellular iron determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.” Data are depicted as lower quartile, median and upper quartile (boxes), and minimum/maximum ranges (whiskers; *P < .05, iron content in monocytes of control vs ACD patients by Student t test).