ABSTRACT
Objective: Iron deficiency is the leading cause of anemia worldwide, and measuring serum ferritin concentration is recognized as the gold standard test for iron deficiency anemia. In inflammation, however, hyperferritinemia occurs without evidence of iron overload. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between ferritin and other anemia parameters in female patients with a combination of iron deficiency anemia and inflammation
Methods: A total of 314 girls and women with anemia [Hb <12.5 g/dL] were selected from users of primary health care centers in Shif port. The participants were divided into a study and a control group. The study group included females with anemia and inflammation, and the control group included anemia without inflammation. Complete blood count, serum ferritin, iron and hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, mean cell volume, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, red cell distribution width, transferrin saturation, total iron binding capacity and C-reactive protein were measured by autoanalyzer and ELISA kits. The relationship between ferritin and hemostatic markers was estimated with Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression models
Results: There was a significant positive correlation between serum ferritin and serum iron concentration, hemoglobin, hematocrit and mean cell hemoglobin concentration before and after adjustment for age in both groups. A negative association between serum ferritin level and total iron binding capacity was also found in both groups
Conclusions: We conclude that ferritin is a reliable noninvasive standard test to diagnose iron status in females with iron deficiency anemia even in the context of inflammation