Association of serum ferritin and lung function in tobacco-naïve postmenopausal women: Analysis of population-based...

Ferritin regulates iron homeostasis, and is involved in the inflammation in the lung, especially in smokers; however, its associations on pulmonary function in nonsmokers remain unclear.

The present study aimed to evaluate the association between serum ferritin and lung function in a tobacco-naïve postmenopausal women.

In this study, 25 534 individuals were enrolled, among who 5338 tobacco-naïve individuals were identified; of those, 342 men and 2879 women (742 pre- and 2137 postmenopausal) with data of serum ferritin, lung function and covariates were included. To evaluate the association of ferritin and lung function, multivariable-adjusted linear regression analyses was used including the factors of predicted value of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁ %) and forced vital capacity (FVC%). Logistic regression analyses were used to measure the relationship between ferritin and restrictive and obstructive lung disease.

In premenopausal women, FEV₁ %/FVC was weakly but positively associated with serum ferritin, and after adjusting for covariates, the association was without statistical significance. No significant association between ferritin and obstructive lung disease was observed. In postmenopausal women, predicted FVC% was negatively associated with serum ferritin, and ferritin was dose-dependently related with risk for restrictive lung disease. The odds ratio for restrictive lung disease in postmenopausal women was 2.285 at T3 and 1.560 at T2 relative to that at T1.

High serum ferritin level was significantly associated with lower FVC% and increased risk of restrictive lung disease in tobacco-naïve postmenopausal women. Further study is needed to determine the mechanism underlying the current findings.