Mutations in the SLC40A1 (FPN1) gene that encodes ferroportin (OMIM *604653) cause an uncommon, heterogeneous group of iron overload disorders characterized by an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance (OMIM #606069). Ferroportin hemochromatosis has been described worldwide in a variety of race/ethnicity groups. SLC40A1 mutations cause two major iron overload phenotype patterns, each depending on the particular mutation and its effect on the function of the transcribed ferroportin protein. In many ferroportin hemochromatosis kinships, serum iron measures and complications of iron overload typical of other types of hemochromatosis are relatively uncommon. The collective term “ferroportin disease” or “hemochromatosis type 4” is sometimes used to describe the clinical manifestations of ferroportin mutations.

History

In 1990, an autosomal dominant form of hemochromatosis was reported in a Melanesian pedigree from the Solomon Islands. All affected individuals had serum iron measures and a pattern of liver iron staining similar to those of HFE hemochromatosis, although linkage of this disorder to chromosome 6p was excluded. In 1999, Pietrangelo and colleagues reported a large Italian family that included persons with an iron overload condition that occurred in pattern consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance. Based on microsatellite marker analyses, this disorder was also not linked to chromosome 6p. In 2001, Njajou and colleagues identified the SLC40A1 mutation N144H associated with autosomal dominant hemochromatosis in a large multi-generation family from the Netherlands.