title: Serum soluble transferrin receptor in the diagnosis of iron deficiency in chronic liver disease.
abstract: Fifty-one consecutive patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) underwent investigations of their iron status (full blood count, serum iron [Fe], total iron binding capacity [TIBC], transferrin saturation [TS], serum ferritin and serum soluble transferrin receptor [sTfR] level). Twenty-six patients were anaemic; 12 patients had iron deficiency, and 10 had iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). The median (range) sTfR in the IDA patients was 16.6 (11.2-24.8) mg/l. compared with 6.6 mg/l (11.2-24.8) in the 16 patients with anaemia due to other causes (P = 0.01). The sensitivity of sTfR for diagnosing iron deficiency in CLD was 91.6% (100% if only anaemic patients are included) and the specificity was 84.6%. Patients with haemolysis and recent blood loss may have falsely elevated sTfR levels. The results suggest that the sTfR is as useful as serum ferritin in identifying a potentially treatable cause of anaemia in CLD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Royal Free Hospital and School of Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagral
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sabin
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McIntyre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin