PREDICTIVE CLINICAL AND LABORATORY ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONCENTRATIONS OF IRON, TRANSFERRIN AND FERRITIN IN BLOOD SERUM

Abstract

Introduction. Assessment of the status of iron at the individual and population level is an urgent task. However, the interpretation of the results is associated with a number of difficulties. The inflammatory process, disorders of carbohydrate metabolism and other non-specific reactions of the body make it difficult to adequately characterize the status of iron. A change in serum iron levels may be a predictor of the development of deficiency or excess of ferritin and transferrin. Conversely, ferritin and transferrin can act as predictors of iron deficiency or excess. Purpose of the study. The purpose of the study was to identify the prognostic significance of the determination of iron, ferritin and transferrin in serum. Material and methods. The study was performed on the basis of a database of laboratory analyzes taken in the course of laboratory practice. Ferritin, transferrin, and iron were measured in blood serum. The total number of laboratory tests for ferritin, transferrin, iron in serum was 4292. To assess the deficiency or excess of the analyzed analytes, we use the ROC curve model, which is widely used to determine the diagnostic value of new markers. In the present study, this is an attempt to indirectly assess iron metabolism in general, based on a minimum number of laboratory tests. Results. Serum iron concentration may be a predictor of ferritin deficiency or excess. As well as feritin can be a predictor in the assessment of iron concentration. Here we have identified a strong gender dependence. The threshold values, which we calculated as the coefficient of the maximum values of the product of sensitivity and specificity, differ in men and women by more than seven times. For transferrin, we can predict an excess, but we cannot detect a deficiency. We can also predict iron deficiency based on transferrin values. Conclusion. In our work, we show the possibility of a relationship between the content of iron, ferritin and transferrin in the blood serum, which, according to the results of laboratory tests, goes beyond the reference values.