Assessment of iron status

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Clinical Medicine
• Hematology

Background:

• Iron is essential for numerous physiological processes.
• Accurate assessment of iron status is crucial for diagnosing and managing various health conditions.
• Traditional methods for assessing iron status can be unreliable in certain physiological and pathological states.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the clinical assessment of iron deficiency and excess.
• To highlight the utility of serum ferritin and transferrin receptor as biomarkers of iron status.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on iron metabolism and assessment.
• Analysis of the roles of ferritin and transferrin receptor in iron regulation.
• Discussion of the clinical application of serum ferritin and transferrin receptor measurements.

Main Results:

• Serum ferritin levels correlate with total body iron stores.
• Serum transferrin receptor levels indicate cellular iron deficiency.
• Ferritin and transferrin receptor production are precisely regulated at a posttranscriptional level by an iron-responsive element-binding protein.

Conclusions:

• Combined measurement of serum ferritin and transferrin receptor provides an accurate assessment of iron status across the entire spectrum of body iron levels.
• This combined approach is effective even in challenging conditions such as pregnancy, inflammation, rapid growth, and in athletes.
• These biomarkers offer a reliable method for clinical assessment of iron deficiency and excess.