Abstract
The iron content of serum ferritin has been determined in groups of patients with
normal or increased iron stores by using a technique of ferritin immunoprecipitation
followed by iron quantitation with atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results were
correlated to individual liver iron concentrations, measured non-invasively by superconducting
quantum interference device (SQUID) biomagnetometry. A close correlation between serum
concentrations of ferritin protein and ferritin iron was found (r = 0.92) in all groups of patients. However, the correlation between ferritin iron
concentration and individual liver iron concentration was poor in patients with hemochromatosis
(r = 0.63) and patients with β-thalassemia major (r = 0.57). The degree of ferritin iron saturation was about 5% in iron-loaded patients,
which contrasts with results in two recent studies but confirms older observations.
In patients with liver cell damage, the ferritin iron saturation in serum was significantly
higher than that found in groups with iron overload disease, probably indicating the
release of intracellular iron-rich ferritin into the blood. The monitoring of patients
undergoing bone marrow transplantation indicated that the release of iron-rich and
iron-poor ferritin occurred during phases of hepatocellular damage and inflammation,
respectively. We find the benefits of serum ferritin iron measurement to be marginal
in patients with iron overload disease. (J Lab Clin Med 2000;135:413-8)
Abbreviations:
AAS (atomic absorption spectroscopy), GvH (graft-versus-host reaction), HFE (hemochromatosis gene on the short arm of chromosome 6), HH (hereditary hemochromatosis), LIC (liver iron concentration), SF-Fe (serum ferritin iron), SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 15,
1999
Received in revised form:
October 19,
1999
Received:
September 30,
1998
Footnotes
☆Reprint requests: Peter Nielsen, MD, PhD, Universitätskrankenhaus Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Identification
Copyright
© 2000 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
