Role of soluble transferrin receptor in differentiating anemia of chronic disease from iron deficiency anemia

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to determine the ability of serum transferrin receptor [sTfR] to distinguish iron deficiency anemia [IDA] from anemia of chronic disease [ACD]. The study was conducted on 30 anemic children [16 males and 14 females] classified into 2 groups. Group I included 15 children with IDA with an age ranged from 4 to 12 years with a mean value of 8.067 +/- 2.34 and group II included 15 children with ACD with an age ranged from 4 to 12 years with a mean value of 8.8 +/- 2.51. In addition, ten age matched healthy children was included as a control group [group III]. All subjects were subjected to proper history taking and clinical examination. Complete blood count [CBC] using automated cell counter providing the measurement of hemoglobin [Hb], mean corpuscular volume [MCV] and mean corpuscular hemoglobin [MCH]; serum iron and total iron binding capacity [TIBC] using Hitachi autoanalyzer; serum ferritin and sTfR using nephelometry were performed for all patients. The study concluded that sTfR is a good marker of iron deficiency and the measurement of sTfR provides a good differentiation between IDA and ACD