Body iron stores and their determinants in healthy postmenopausal US women

Data on the determinants of body iron stores in middle-aged women are sparse.

We prospectively evaluated nondietary and dietary determinants of iron stores.

Using blood samples collected in 1989-1990, we measured plasma ferritin concentrations in 620 healthy postmenopausal women aged 44-69 y who participated in the Nurses' Health Study. Food-frequency questionnaires completed in 1980, 1984, and 1986 were used to calculate average dietary intakes. Generalized linear regression and multiple logistic regression models were used to assess the association between plasma ferritin and its determinants.

Among these postmenopausal women, the median plasma ferritin concentration was 73.8 ng/mL (interquartile range: 41.6-125.8 ng/mL), 2.7% were iron depleted (ferritin concentration < 12 ng/mL), and 9.8% had an elevated ferritin concentration (> 200 ng/mL). Age, time since menopause, time since the last postmenopausal hormone (PMH) use, body mass index, iron supplement use, and alcohol and heme-iron intakes were positively associated with ferritin concentrations, whereas PMH use, physical activity, aspirin use, and gastrointestinal ulcer were inversely related. The association between heme-iron intake and ferritin was most apparent among the women who consumed > 30 g alcohol/d.

Our prospective data confirm that in postmenopausal women, intakes of heme iron, supplemental iron, and alcohol are dietary determinants of plasma ferritin, and age, PMH use, body mass index, physical activity, aspirin use, and gastrointestinal ulcer are nondietary determinants.