Interpretation of Laboratory Determination of Soluble Transferrin Receptor in Anemia Patients

Determination of soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and transferrin index (TfR-index) seem to be reliable tools in diagnostics. Data of 425 patients with different diagnoses have been examined to obtain basic parameters of their Fe metabolism. In 153 of them anemia was diagnosed. In 111 patients the TfR index was determined while anemia was diagnosed in 27 individuals. In the case of anemia diagnosis based on hemoglobin values and morphological classification of mean cell volume (MCV) the most important indicators proved to be transferrin and ferritin with Fe binding capacity. The Mann-Whitney U-test revealed that this patient group showed significantly lower average values of transferrin, Fe, folate and higher values of sTfR. The sTfR and TfR index are appropriate tools in the diagnosis of anemia in heterogeneous populations.