Soluble transferrin receptor and soluble transferrin receptor-ferritin index for evaluation of the iron status in elderly patients.
We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic values of soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) concentration, transferrin-ferritin index (soluble transferrin receptor concentration/log ferritin), ferritin levels and other related parameters in geriatric patients with anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency (IDA). Forty-four elderly subjects (median age 73 [63-94]) and twenty healthy subjects (median age 49 [44-56]) were enrolled into this study, divided into four groups: twenty middle aged healthy subjects (group A), fifteen elderly patients with IDA (group B), fourteen elderly patients with ACD (group C) and fifteen nonanemic geriatric subjects (group D). Hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, serum iron concentration and transferrin saturation levels of the patients in IDA group were found significantly lower than those in both non-anemic group and healthy subjects. Serum sTfR concentrations of the patients in IDA group were significantly higher than those in non-anemic geriatric group, ACD group and healthy subjects. Transferrin-ferritin index of the patients with IDA was significantly higher than that in non-anemic geriatric and ACD group. Serum ferritin levels of the patients in IDA group did not show any differences when compared with the other groups. Serum ferritin was highly specific for IDA (95%) when compared with ACD, although its sensitivity was low (38%). STfR values were negatively correlated with both transferrin and ferritin levels (p = 0.042 r = -0.40; and p = 0.034 r = -0.41, respectively). In conclusion, serum soluble transferrin receptor and transferrin-ferritin index may be used together with serum ferritin to distinguish the iron deficiency state in the elderly.
Department of Biochemistry, Istanbul School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. drgenc@drgenc.com
Sema
S
Genc
Nilgun
N
Erten
Mehmet Akif
MA
Karan
Sevgi Kalayoglu
SK
Besisik
Bulent
B
Saka
Cemil
C
Tascioglu
Ahmet
A
Sivas
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012372:ROC Curve; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism*
D006454:Hemoglobins; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron