Hypotransferrinemia and changes in plasma lipid and metabolic patterns in sepsis

This study was performed to obtain a characterization of the changes in plasma transferrin (Tf, g/L) in sepsis. More than four hundred determinations of Tf, and of a large series of simultaneously collected blood and hemodynamic variables, were obtained in 17 patients with post-traumatic sepsis. Tf during sepsis was consistently low (mean +/- SD = 1.46 +/- 0.46) however fluctuated markedly according to changes in metabolic and hemodynamic patterns. Regression analysis showed that decreases in Tf were simultaneously correlated with the plasma lipid pattern (in particular with decreasing cholesterol and increasing triglycerides), with decreases in albumin and peripheral O2 extraction, and with increasing cardiac index (p < 0.001 for all). Decreases in Tf were moderated by increasing the parenteral amino acid dose (p < 0.001). Combinations of these variables in multiple regressions explained nearly 80% of the variability of Tf. There were no similar correlations for other acute phase proteins except ceruloplasmin, which showed opposite changes compared to those of Tf. These results show that within the hypotransferrinemia which characterizes sepsis, Tf may oscillate remaining strongly correlated with changes in metabolic and hemodynamic patterns, which may account for nearly 80% of the variability of Tf.