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Serum Iron and Transferrin Saturation in Women with Special Reference to Women with Low Transferrin Saturation
Author(s) -
Lennartsson Jan,
Bengtsson Calle,
Hallberg Leif,
Lundgren Birgitta K.,
Tibblin Elisabeth
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0036-553X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1979.tb02690.x
Subject(s) - transferrin saturation , iron deficiency , serum iron , total iron binding capacity , population , transferrin , iron status , saturation (graph theory) , chemistry , physiology , endocrinology , medicine , zoology , anemia , biology , mathematics , environmental health , combinatorics
Serum iron and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were determined in a population sample of 1462 women in age strata between 38 and 60. Serum iron and TIBC values were similar in the various ages studied but with a slight trend towards higher serum iron and lower TIBC values in the upper ages. Transferrin saturation was used to divide the material arbitrarily into women with and without iron deficiency. The dividing point chosen was 16%. The women thus defined as iron deficient had lower mean haemoglobin values than women in the total population sample and were more often anaemic. They had also lower MCV, MCH and MCHC indices than women in the total population sample. Of these indices, MCH seemed to discriminate the state of iron deficiency better than MCV and MCHC. Except for an increased mean menstrual blood loss no obvious cause of iron deficiency could be found in these women with low transferrin saturation.