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The Characterization of Iron Status in InCHIANTI: The Use of a Higher Ferritin Cutoff
Author(s) -
Chen Lenis,
Murray-Kolb Laura E.,
Patel Kushang V.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.627.2
Subject(s) - ferritin , cutoff , iron deficiency , anemia , medicine , soluble transferrin receptor , iron status , cohort , gastroenterology , serum ferritin , hemoglobin , population , physical therapy , environmental health , physics , quantum mechanics
Iron is critical for physiological and mental function. The purpose of this study was to characterize iron status in 1,043 Italians >65 yr in the InCHIANTI study. Complete blood count (CBC) measures, transferrin receptor and ferritin were considered. The high prevalence of suggestive inflammation (>60%) in InCHIANTI, combined with literature supporting a higher ferritin cutoff for older people, provided a compelling case to use a ferritin cutoff of 45 μg/L rather a traditional cutoff of 15 μg/L as a criterion for iron deficiency. This cutoff and/or other iron and CBC cutoffs were used to characterize four stages of iron status: 1) iron deficiency anemia; 2) non‐anemic iron deficiency; 3) iron sufficiency; and 4) iron overload. The prevalence of individuals in each stage was 4.2%, 5.7%, 34.5% and 12.0%, respectively, while 43.6% of the population's iron status was not clearly definable according to strict cutoffs. These results suggested both a concerning prevalence of iron overload and iron deficiency in this Italian cohort. Using the traditional ferritin cutoff of 15 μg/L reduced the number of people classified as iron deficient by 47.6%, potentially misclassifying those individuals. The accurate characterization of iron status in the elderly is necessary to properly identify those who could benefit from treatment. Grant Funding Source : This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging, NIH