Ferritin levels in professional blood donors

Iron stores were estimated in 333 professional blood donors by serum ferritin assay. Iron deficiency or depleted iron stores assessed by low serum ferritin levels (less than 12ng/ml) were found in 15% donors. In 51% donors the serum ferritin was within the normal range, while 34% donors had high serum ferritin levels (above 200 and upto 3580 ng/ml). Anaemia (Hb less than 13g/d1) was found in 284 (85%) donors, 51 (18%) of these had iron deficiency or low ferritin levels, 99 (35%) had high and 134 (47%) had normal serum ferritin levels. Iron deficiency in blood donors could be associated with repeated blood donations. High serum ferritin levels could be due to reasons like taking of medicinal iron much beyond the recommended dosage by self initiation. Therefore, estimation of serum ferritin has no value in professional blood donors.