Evaluation of iron status: zinc protoporphyrin vis-a-vis bone marrow iron stores.
Zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) in the red cells is an indicator of iron status in the bone marrow (BM) and can be easily measured by Protofluor-Z Hematofluorometer from Helena Laboratories. It is well known that bone marrow iron is a gold standard for the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) even in the pre-latent phase. Hence, it was considered pertinent to evaluate the diagnostic utility of ZPP in comparison with bone marrow iron stores. 107 random BM were selected over a period of 2(1/2) years; in each case, RBC indices where recorded along with ZPP and Perls' Prussian blue reaction for BM iron stores. The specificity and sensitivity were found to be 77.8% and sensitivity 69.8%, respectively. However, the sensitivity increased up to 96.2% when Hb, RBC indices and ZPP were considered for the diagnosis of IDA.
Das
Sheila
S
Department Pathology, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India. dasskus@yahoo.com.
Philip
Kandathil Joseph
KJ
D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis*; D011524:Protoporphyrins / Q000097:blood*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D011524:Protoporphyrins; C017803:zinc protoporphyrin; D007501:Iron