Transferrin in disease. I: A potential prognostic indicator in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation

Transferrin levels were measured immunochemically and the levels of several other plasma proteins were estimated by high resolution agarose gel electrophoresis in serial serum samples from nine patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation for aplastic anemia or leukemia. Three of five patients with low pretreatment transferrin levels died during initial hospitalization, and the other two suffered severe complications prior to recovery. All four patients with pretreatment transferrin levels within the normal range were discharged, three of them with minimal complications. Serial studies demonstrated that transferrin levels fell with the onset of infections or graft-versus-host disease and rose with recovery. Similar changes were not seen with any of the other plasma proteins measured. These results suggest that measurement of serum transferrin may reveal important prognostic information about patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation.