Quantitative determination of non-haem iron and ferritin iron in bone marrow using flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry. A comparative study on the cytological and chemical determination of the bone marrow iron content.
A method for non-haem iron analysis in bone marrow aspirates using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry has been developed. Bone marrow aspirates were obtained from patients with various disorders. A good correlation is observed between chemical and cytological assessment of total non-haem iron in bone marrow. An intra-assay coefficient of variation of 9.0% was observed. The ferritin-iron concentration was also determined and a CVduplo of 11% was found. The ferritin iron concentration increased with an increasing total iron content until saturation of ferritin appeared to be reached at about 3 g ferritin per kg protein. It was concluded that the quantitative determination of bone marrow iron can be of value in the diagnosis and investigation of both hypo- and hyper-ferraemic disorders.
van Dieijen-Visser
M P
MP
Department of Clinical Chemistry, De Wever Hospital, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
Marell
G J
GJ
Coenen
J L
JL
Brombacher
P J
PJ
D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D005293:Ferritins / Q000032:analysis*; D006418:Heme / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Q000379:methods
D006418:Heme; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron