摘要AIM: To report a patient with C282Y homozygocity, depleted body iron and intestinal atrophy caused by celiac disease (CD) who experienced resolution of the enteropathy with subsequent normalization of iron metabolism upon glutenfree diet.METHODS: To obtain information on the tissue distribution and quantitative expression of proteins involved in duodenal iron trafficking, we determined the expression of divalent-metal transporter 1 (DMT1), ferroportin 1 (FP1) and transferrin receptor (TfR1) by means of immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR in duodenal biopsies of this patient.RESULTS: Whereas in hereditary hemochromatosis patients without CD, DMT1 expression was up-regulated leading to excessive uptake of iron, we identified a significant reduction in protein and mRNA expression of DMT1 as acompensatory mechanism in this patient with HH and CD.CONCLUSION: Occult CD may compensate tot increased DMT1 expression in a specific subset of individuals withhomozygous C282Y mutations in the hemochromatosis(HFE) gene, thus contributing to the low penetrance of HH.