HAMP and infection: A previous study showed that hepcidin-deficient mice were more susceptible to S. typhimurium infection following intravenous administration.27 Recently, a study from another laboratory reported that hepcidin deficiency had minimal effects on the growth of S. typhimurium in an intravenous infection mouse model.28 However, our current data showed that there was a significant decrease of hepatic bacterial loads in Hamp−/− mice when compared to WT mice following oral infection, suggesting that hepcidin is one of the harmful factors involved in host resistance to S. typhimurium.