Role of Fermented Goat Milk on Liver Gene and Protein Profiles Related to Iron Metabolism during Anemia Recovery Moreno Fernández, Jorge Muñoz Alférez, María José López Aliaga, María Inmaculada Díaz Castro, Javier Fermented cow and goat milk Anemia Iron homeostasis Iron repletion Gene and protein expression : J.M.-F. was supported by two fellowships from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (Spain), FPU and Traslados Temporales FPU (University of King´s College of London). J.M.-F. is grateful to the Excellence Program “Nutrición y Ciencias de los Alimentos” from the University of Granada. The authors are grateful to Susan Stevenson for her efficient support in the revision with the English language. Despite the crucial role of the liver as the central regulator of iron homeostasis, no studies have directly tested the modulation of liver gene and protein expression patterns during iron deficiency instauration and recovery with fermented milks. Fermented goat milk consumption improves the key proteins of intestinal iron metabolism during iron deficiency recovery, enhancing the digestive and metabolic utilization of iron. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of fermented goat or cow milk consumption on liver iron homeostasis during iron-deficiency anemia recovery with normal or iron-overload diets. Analysis included iron status biomarkers, gene and protein expression in hepatocytes. In general, fermented goat milk consumption either with normal or high iron content up-regulated liver DMT1, FPN1 and FTL1 gene expression and DMT1 and FPN1 protein expression. However, HAMP mRNA expression was lower in all groups of animals fed fermented goat milk. Additionally, hepcidin protein expression decreased in control and anemic animals fed fermented goat milk with normal iron content. In conclusion, fermented goat milk potentiates the up-regulation of key genes coding for proteins involved in iron metabolism, such as DMT1, and FPN1, FTL1 and down-regulation of HAMP, playing a key role in enhanced iron repletion during anemia recovery, inducing a physiological adaptation of the liver key genes and proteins coordinated with the fluctuation of the cellular iron levels, favoring whole-body iron homeostasis. 2020-07-22T11:48:15Z 2020-07-22T11:48:15Z 2020-05 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Moreno-Fernandez, J., Alférez, M. J., López-Aliaga, I., & Díaz-Castro, J. (2020). Role of Fermented Goat Milk on Liver Gene and Protein Profiles Related to Iron Metabolism during Anemia Recovery. Nutrients, 12(5), 1336. [DOI: 10.3390/nu12051336] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/63109 10.3390/nu12051336 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España MDPI