Serum Transferrin Receptor and Transferrin Receptor-Ferritin Index Identify Healthy Subjects With Subclinical Iron Deficits

Abstract

Despite the established utility of serum transferrin receptor (sTfR), serum ferritin, and the sTfR/log ferritin ratio (TfR-F Index) in the diagnosis of iron deficiency (ID) anemia, the numeric values of these parameters, which are indicative of subclinical ID, remain to be clearly defined. In this study, 65 apparently healthy nonanemic adults (22 men and 43 women) were treated with 3 months of oral iron supplementation to evaluate its effect on parameters reflecting iron status and to determine the prevalence of subclinical iron deficiency in apparently healthy adults. Significant supplementation-induced changes were observed in sTfR, ferritin, and TfR-F Index values in women, whereas in men, none of the studied parameters showed any significant change. Iron-deficient erythropoiesis (IDE) was not observed in men, but was found in 17 women (40%). Although individuals with a compromised iron status may be represented in substantial numbers in conventional reference populations, they can be readily identified using sTfR, ferritin, and TfR-F Index determinations. © 1998 by The American Society of Hematology.

Reticulocyte haemoglobin content vs. soluble transferrin receptor and ferritin index in iron deficiency anaemia accompanied with inflammation

“…It combined not only the advantages, but also the problems of the individual tests: influence of inflammation on ferritin and increased erythropoiesis on sTfR concentration (Metzgeroth & Hastka, 2004). Other authors have found this index to be an excellent discriminator of iron deficiency (Punnonen, Irjala & Rajamaki, 1997;Remacha et al, 1998;Souminen et al, 1998;Mrgetić et al, 2005).…”

Pregnancy and iron homeostasis: an update

“…A list of common indicators and their reference ranges are presented in Table 1. [50][51][52] At present, Hb and Hct are the most widely used indicators to assess anemia during pregnancy. Measures of Hb and Hct drop from early pregnancy to mid-pregnancy as a result of pregnancyassociated hemodilution, i.e., a smaller increase in red blood cell (RBC) mass (approx.…”

Evidence of relative iron deficiency in platelet‐ and plasma‐pheresis donors correlates with donation frequency

“…Prior studies in blood donor using serum ferritin concentration defined ID as serum ferritin <12 mg/dL, a highly specific but insensitive indicator of ID, resulting in failure to identify ID in >30% of cases [9,[20][21][22][23]25,28]. Others used serum ferritin concentration between 22 and 40 mg/dL [8,30] to better correlate with depleted bone marrow iron stores [10,11]. Our data demonstrate a relative ID with a lower serum ferritin, hepcidin, iron, and transferrin saturation in study donors relative to controls.…”