Value of Soluble Transferrin Receptors and sTfR/log Ferritin in the Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency Accompanied by Acute Infection

There are many causes of anemia; the most common of these are acute and chronic infections, iron deficiency, or both. Identifying the cause is a very important step in management of anemia. So, we evaluated the usefulness of soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and of the sTfR/log ferritin in the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia accompanied by acute infection. This study was conducted on 131 children aged 2–11 years old from those who attended the pediatric outpatient clinics in Menoufia university hospital. Hematological indices, iron balance and sTfR were evaluated and the sTfR/log F was calculated for each examined child. From the examined children four groups were distinguished: Group I (control): included 34 healthy children with normal iron status (66.7% males, age 4.2 ± 1.2). Group II (IDA): included 38 children diagnosed as iron deficiency anemia (47.4% males, age 4.9 ± 1.6). Group III (IDA + infection): included 26 children with infectious disease (upper respiratory tract infection, otitis media, pneumonia, stomatitis, and urinary tract infection) and anemia meeting criteria of IDA (50% males, age 4.2 ± 0.7). Group IV (anemia + infection): included 33 children with infectious anemia without iron deficiency (56.2% males, age 5.06 ± 1.4). It was proved that sTfR and sTfR/log Ferritin were significantly higher in children with anemia due to iron deficiency, and in those with infection + iron deficiency, versus those with infectious anemia or in healthy children. The use of sTfR and sTfR/log ferritin improves the diagnosis of IDA in pediatric patients, especially in the presence of coexisting acute infection.