OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of mild infections on iron status parameters. DESIGN: A prospective observational study. SETTING: A population of female nurse students in Norway. SUBJECTS: 33 women with self-reported episodes of infection and 33 women without infections but with comparable s-ferritin at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change from baseline in haemoglobin, s-iron, TIBC, transferrin saturation, s-ferritin, e-protoporphyrin and s-transferrin receptor on days 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 56 after onset of illness, compared to changes in non-infected subjects tested in parallel. RESULTS: In febrile illness, such as influenza, there was a significant rise in s-ferritin that could take more than a month to normalise. S-ferritin increased significantly when CRP rose above 20 mg/L, but a normal CRP could not preclude falsely high s-ferritin values due to infection. S-iron and transferrin saturation fell below normal range in a substantial proportion of cases in the symptomatic stage, even in infections without a febrile response, such as the common cold, but was normalised within a week after onset of infection. CONCLUSION: For more than a month after febrile illness such as influenza, s-ferritin is not a reliable measure for ruling out iron deficiency in women of reproductive age.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of mild infections on iron status parameters. DESIGN: A prospective observational study. SETTING: A population of female nurse students in Norway. SUBJECTS: 33 women with self-reported episodes of infection and 33 women without infections but with comparable s-ferritin at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change from baseline in haemoglobin, s-iron, TIBC, transferrin saturation, s-ferritin, e-protoporphyrin and s-transferrin receptor on days 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 56 after onset of illness, compared to changes in non-infected subjects tested in parallel. RESULTS: In febrile illness, such as influenza, there was a significant rise in s-ferritin that could take more than a month to normalise. S-ferritin increased significantly when CRP rose above 20 mg/L, but a normal CRP could not preclude falsely high s-ferritin values due to infection. S-iron and transferrin saturation fell below normal range in a substantial proportion of cases in the symptomatic stage, even in infections without a febrile response, such as the common cold, but was normalised within a week after onset of infection. CONCLUSION: For more than a month after febrile illness such as influenza, s-ferritin is not a reliable measure for ruling out iron deficiency in women of reproductive age.
Authors: Samantha J Lain; Christine L Roberts; Julia Warning; Josephine Vivian-Taylor; Jane B Ford Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2011-05-12 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: R K Chandyo; S Henjum; M Ulak; A L Thorne-Lyman; R J Ulvik; P S Shrestha; L Locks; W Fawzi; T A Strand Journal: Eur J Clin Nutr Date: 2015-12-02 Impact factor: 4.016