BACKGROUND: Unbound iron binding capacity (UIBC) in serum, which is s-total iron binding capacity (2 times s- transferrin) minus s-iron, may be a more accurate marker of empty iron stores than serum transferrin saturation. Previously we have shown this for healthy females of childbearing age. METHODS: Now we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to compare the diagnostic accuracy of s-iron, s-transferrin, s-transferrin saturation and s-UIBC in diagnosing empty iron stores in 29,251 female and 19,652 male outpatients. Empty iron stores were defined as s-ferritin less than 10, 15 or 20 μg/L. RESULTS: At all definitions of empty iron stores s-UIBC had a better diagnostic accuracy than the other tests in both male and female outpatients, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.85-0.97. Also in subpopulations with elevated s-CRP or low b-hemoglobin s-UIBC was more accurate than the other tests. All tests performed better in males than in females, and generally they were more accurate in adults than in children. CONCLUSION: When diagnosing empty iron stores calculation of s-UIBC is a better way to utilize the information in s-iron and s-transferrin than the calculation of s-transferrin saturation.
BACKGROUND: Unbound iron binding capacity (UIBC) in serum, which is s-total iron binding capacity (2 times s- transferrin) minus s-iron, may be a more accurate marker of empty iron stores than serum transferrin saturation. Previously we have shown this for healthy females of childbearing age. METHODS: Now we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to compare the diagnostic accuracy of s-iron, s-transferrin, s-transferrin saturation and s-UIBC in diagnosing empty iron stores in 29,251 female and 19,652 male outpatients. Empty iron stores were defined as s-ferritin less than 10, 15 or 20 μg/L. RESULTS: At all definitions of empty iron stores s-UIBC had a better diagnostic accuracy than the other tests in both male and female outpatients, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.85-0.97. Also in subpopulations with elevated s-CRP or low b-hemoglobin s-UIBC was more accurate than the other tests. All tests performed better in males than in females, and generally they were more accurate in adults than in children. CONCLUSION: When diagnosing empty iron stores calculation of s-UIBC is a better way to utilize the information in s-iron and s-transferrin than the calculation of s-transferrin saturation.
Authors: Erik A Imel; Ziyue Liu; Amie K McQueen; Dena Acton; Anthony Acton; Leah R Padgett; Munro Peacock; Michael J Econs Journal: Bone Date: 2016-03-08 Impact factor: 4.398
Authors: Tomasz Podgórski; Jakub Kryściak; Jan Konarski; Katarzyna Domaszewska; Krzysztof Durkalec-Michalski; Ryszard Strzelczyk; Maciej Pawlak Journal: J Hum Kinet Date: 2015-10-14 Impact factor: 2.193